University of Scranton

The University of Scranton, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is a wonderful Jesuit college of about 4700 students, 3600 of whom are undergraduates halfway between Philly and NYC. The city of Scranton is much lovelier than I was led to believe from watching “The Office,” with beautiful architecture and gorgeous views of the Lackawanna Valley. The campus feels urban, but self-contained.

The University of Scranton is a hidden gem. US News and World Report has included Scranton in their Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs, Undergraduate Engineering Programs, Undergraduate Business Programs, and Undergraduate Computer Science Programs. Princeton Review places Scranton among the top 25 for Best Campus Food, Science Labs, College Dorms, Best-run Colleges, Students Most Engaged in Community Service, and Most Religious Students.

Here are my impressions: Scranton offers a very strong sense of community. Virtually all of the faculty live within a 10-mile radius. The Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, told us that he runs into his students at the grocery store on the weekend, and his students have reffed his children’s soccer games. Much of the top administration have been there for years - or decades. These people truly care about the university, and it shows.

As is the case at many Catholic universities, all students must take two religion courses and two philosophy courses. But what’s interesting is that philosophy is the most common second (double) major. Scranton also offers majors in many business areas, humanities, social science and STEM, but they really excel in the health sciences. We toured those facilities, and they’re gorgeous. In addition to nursing, Scranton offers a 5-year MS program in OT with a sixth-year OTD option. There’s also a Doctorate in Physical Therapy program that students apply directly into, but it’s competitive: they receive over 800 applications for about 45 seats.

The all-in price is about $73K, but merit scholarships of $28-34K are common. In addition, they offer about 20-25 full-tuition presidential scholarships, and yield about half of them. Additionally, they have a new $1000 automatic scholarship for students graduating from Jesuit high schools. The average weighted GPA of admitted students is 3.63 and the average SAT score is 1258. For nursing applicants, a strong score will help and the lowest score you’d want to submit would be 1260. They’re also looking for strong engagement in high school math and science for nursing applicants, and an average weighted GPA of 3.9. Students with anything below a B in math or science will likely not be admitted for nursing.

Housing is guaranteed for four years and required for two. I was very impressed with everything I saw here: beautiful new buildings, well-maintained facilities, and faculty and staff who truly care about the students. I think that the University of Scranton is well poised to move beyond their regional status into the ranks of national universities.