Penn State University, founded in 1855, is the commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution and its largest university, offering over 160 academic programs in a variety of disciplines. Penn State has 24 campuses across the commonwealth with nearly 100,000 total enrollment, with 47,000 students at the University Park campus and over 650,000 alumni worldwide.
Penn State is ranked as a top 60 world university, according to the Center for World University Rankings. With many academic programs ranked in the top 30 globally, namely in engineering, business, sciences, and education, Penn State is one of the largest recipients of international sponsored students in the United States.
Nearly 10,000 international students, scholars, and faculty from 140 countries choose Penn State, creating a vibrant global community. Penn State is one of the top twenty universities in the U.S. for hosting international students and #1 in Pennsylvania according to Open Doors by IIE. Penn State’s global strategy has three dimensions: enhance and diversify education abroad; increase and diversify the international student population; and grow transformational strategic partnerships worldwide.
Each year, Penn State receives $1+ billion in research expenditures, as a global leader of innovation and research. Over $100 million of this total comes from industry. Penn State is ranked within the top 25 U.S. institutions for R&D expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. Penn State’s research, scholarship, and creative activity promote human and economic development and global understanding.
Academic: GPA of 3.0 or above on their studies to date
English Language:
– IELTS: 6.5
– TOEFL iBT: 80
– Duolingo English Test: 120
26 August 2024 – 13 December 2024
Applicants 2022
Applicants : 80 students
GPA : 3.09-3.96
TOEFL iBT Score : 90-102
IELTS Score : 6.5-7.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 90-145
Awardees 2022
Applicants : 10 students
GPA : 3.56-3.94
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : –
Duolingo English Test Score : 140-145
Applicants 2023
Applicants : 107 students
GPA : 3.09-3.99
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6.5-8.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 100-160
Awardees 2023
Awardees : 10 students
GPA : 3.42-3.89
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 8-8.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 150-160
Available Courses
SOC 1 provides perspectives and information useful in understanding all societies. The major theories (functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism) and concepts provide the foundation upon which the course material rests. Students will learn how sociologists do research and explore tools for understanding the production of knowledge and for evaluating the validity of sociological assertions. Students will employ critical reasoning skills as they explore the nature and reality of culture and social structure, the formation of the social self and the salience of group identities and norms, social stratification and inequality (in the specific contexts of race, ethnicity, gender, and age), and the complexity of human social life and behavior. Sections of this course may include group research projects, debates, and library or internet-based research. Classification(s): Social and Behavioral Sciences
SOC 119N focuses on historical patterns and current status of racial, ethnic and cultural groups and issues locally, nationally, and internationally. SOC 119 has three objectives. The course will introduce students to new ways of thinking about race, ethnicity and culture from the perspectives of the social sciences and humanities. Students will be able to compare and contrast differences between race, ethnicity and culture. They will be able to understand the extent and pervasiveness of racial, ethnic and cultural inequality and discrimination in the U.S. and explain how unequal systems impact different ancestry groups. Students will be able to compare historical causes and consequences of sociological processes such as immigration, assimilation and multiculturalism, and they will develop new ways of understanding how these processes are expressed in popular culture (e.g., art, music, literature) and intergroup dynamics. Students will also learn the intellectual tools for having more thoughtful conversations about the issues address in the class. By acquiring these tools, students will be able to formulate more thoughtful questions and responses when they engage others in everyday discussions about the many racial, ethnic and cultural factors and forces that pull people and groups together and push them apart. Finally, students will be able to more clearly explain how their identity reflects and shapes their life experiences as well as others in their racial and ethnic group(s).
ARTH 100 provides an introduction to the history of art from prehistory to the present, through selected topics, rather than a comprehensive survey. Areas covered usually include prehistoric art, art of the Near East and Egypt, ancient Greek and Roman art, medieval art culminating with the Gothic, Renaissance art both in Italy and northern Europe, Baroque and Rococo art, and modern developments often highlighting Romanticism, Impressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Feminist, and contemporary art. The course also introduces selected artistic traditions in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The course is designed to meet two principal goals. The first is to increase students’ powers of visual analysis and to help them build a critical vocabulary for discussing an art object’s medium, composition, style, and iconography. The second is to foster an understanding of the deep implication of the visual arts in their social and cultural contexts, both historical and contemporary. The course therefore involves significant material relating to political, economic and religious issues. It investigates problems in patronage, function, reception and censorship. It considers such intra- and cross-cultural issues as representations of gender and the incorporation of non-European art forms into the Western tradition. Requirements typically include examinations combining short answer and essay questions, and one paper based library research or intensive examination of an actual work of art
Anthropology, Ancestry, and You will integrate anthropology and genetics through the exploration of the students’ own genealogies and genomic ancestries. Engaging students in the investigation of their own origins will promote learning of science and social science. Instead of a textbook, students will have the opportunity to purchase a commercially available genetic ancestry test after receiving training on the potential risks and benefits of participating in personal genetic testing. This interdomain course will provide an opportunity for students from any major to explore topics including, ethical considerations of genetics research, human evolution and adaptation, DNA and inheritance, race, and identity.
ASTRO 6 is an introductory course that provides a broad introduction to many areas of Astronomy with qualitative descriptions of the dazzling and varied contents of the universe including the Sun and other stars, red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, supernovae, galaxies, dark matter, and more. The course will explore how these objects form and change and interact, how the whole universe formed and changes (cosmology), and where Earth fits in the vast scheme of things. Descriptions will build upon the basic physics of gravity, light, and atoms, and will be discussed in the context of the process of science as a robust and self-correcting way of learning and knowing that relies on making and testing predictions by gathering evidence.
We are living in extraordinary times. Our numbers have now become so large, our power so great, and our consumption so rampant that we are despoiling our home. Indeed, over the past half-century environmental scientists have been calling attention to the deterioration of Earth’s atmosphere, Earth’s oceans, Earth’s forests and Earth’s soils, along with the loss of Earth’s biodiversity, from the tropics to the poles. The evidence is unequivocal: Planet Earth is under duress. Though we need Earth for our survival, Earth does not need us! So, will Earth shake us into oblivion or will we wake up, before it is too late, and become respectful members of Earth’s community of life? This is a critical question for humankind as a whole; and it is the reason that BISC 3 exists at Penn State. So it is that, in this course, we will explore the root causes of today’s environmental crisis and, in so doing, consider scientific, technological, sociological, psychological and personal responses to what is, arguable, the most significant crisis in the history of our species. If you commit to fully engaging with this course, you can expect to: 1-Discover how questions can be powerful catalysts for learning; 2-Grow in your ability to see both yourself and Planet Earth from new and liberating perspectives; 3-Appreciate the power of critical thinking and personal reflection as a means to both personal and global transformation 4-Realize that you, should you choose, can play a significant role in the healing of our world.
Design, use, and programming of spreadsheets and data bases with applications from a range of disciplines.
This course presents a general view of a number of mathematical topics to a non-technical audience, often relating the mathematical topics to a historical context, and providing students with an opportunity to engage with the mathematics at an introductory level. Although some variation in topics covered may take place among different instructors at different campuses, an example of such a course focuses on a number theory theme throughout the course, beginning with the Greeks’ view of integers, the concept of divisors, the calculation of greatest common divisors (which originates with Euclid), the significance of the prime numbers, the infinitude of the set of prime numbers (also known to the ancient Greeks), work on perfect numbers (which continues to be a topic of research today), and the work of Pythagoras and his famous Theorem. The course then transitions to the work of European mathematicians such as Euler and Gauss, including work on sums of two squares (which generalizes the Pythagorean Theorem), and then considering Euler’s phi function, congruences, and applications to cryptography.
CAMS 45 introduces the myths of ancient Greece and Rome as they are represented in the canonical works of Greek and Latin literature and art. Students become conversant in classical mythology by studying the stories of gods and goddesses and heroes and heroines. The course discusses the meaning and function of myths in their historical, religious, and literary contexts. It may also approach the interpretation of myth from different disciplinary perspectives (comparative mythology, critical theory, cultural anthropology, gender theory, history, philosophy, psychology, religion, or rhetoric). In addition, CAMS 45 gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and understanding of myth to the flourishing legacy of classical mythology in the literature, art, and culture of subsequent ages.
This course is aimed at consumers of media in any form. It explores the relationship between the media and society through critical analysis of media and its role in education about and creation of social reality. Students research literature on human diversity issues in media representation. Students explore economic, political and social implications of media practice. Course content is designed to help build deeper understanding of gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation and class diversity in media. Students explore the role of media and media literacy within the pluralistic democratic US society in the context of a diverse global society. Communication theory helps explain how media representations impact human construction of meaning in social relationships.