Online and On-Campus Colleges in PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania State University operates two dozen campuses in cities and towns across the commonwealth, from the Philadelphia metro area to the shores of Lake Erie. The flagship location in University Park has come to be known as one of the best schools in Pennsylvania, particularly when it comes to business and engineering.

Penn State also holds a spot among the top colleges and universities in Pennsylvania for online students, thanks to its World Campus distance education initiative. With more than 40 undergraduate degrees, over 50 graduate plans and nearly 70 certificate programs, online students have a wide range of options for degree programs.

What's more, earning a degree here can give you access to unexpected benefits after graduation. Penn State boasts the largest alumni network in the nation.

Located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Drexel University ranks among the largest private universities in the country. Its 15 colleges and schools offer more than 200 degree programs, and research partnerships with China and Israel can help students and faculty stay abreast of worldwide innovation.

Drexel has long been one of the most forward-looking Pennsylvania universities in terms of technological advancement, which could be a good sign if looking for an online degree program. It required incoming students to have access to computers as early as 1983, and it led the charge toward establishing campus-wide wireless connectivity in 2000.

Students looking to combine their academic training with professional experience should check out the Drexel Co-op program. Co-op students can take on entry-level careers in their field to add real-world perspective to their lessons and earn while they learn.

First established in Philadelphia in 1851, this Catholic university in the Jesuit tradition encourages students to "Live Greater" by using their skills and talents to work toward the global good. Saint Joseph's University became a full-fledged university in 1978 and has grown in leaps and bounds since then.

The catalog at SJU features over 50 bachelor's programs and more than 50 pathways for graduate study. The Erivan K. Haub School of Business at SJU offers a few degree programs that may not be widely available elsewhere, including master's degrees and graduate certificates in food marketing and healthcare marketing.

SJU also goes out of its way to ensure that its faculty has high-level credentials. No less than 100 percent of tenure-track professors here hold the most advanced degrees available in their discipline.

Student-faculty ratio can be a solid predictor of professors' availability to work individually with students, and Duquesne University stood out in that category. This private Catholic school reported just 14 students per faculty member in 2018 -- around 12 percent better than the national average.

On top of that, half of the classes in Duquesne's more than 180 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional degree programs contain fewer than 20 students. If a close-knit educational experience is what you're after, this Pittsburgh school might be worth a second look.

Duquesne also stands out among the top schools in Pennsylvania for its focus on online degrees in health care and education fields. Eighty percent of the online graduate programs offered here focus on education administration, instructional technology and nursing.

With nearly 40,000 students counted on the rolls, the flagship Philadelphia campus of Temple University is one of the largest colleges in the commonwealth by enrollment. It's also a decidedly global institution, maintaining satellite campuses in Rome, Italy, and Tokyo, Japan, which could be a good indication for those who appreciate online courses.

The variety of learning opportunities at Temple is as vast as you might expect at such a large campus. Undergraduate degree programs number in the 100s, and graduate and post-graduate students can browse a selection of nearly 300 degree plans and close to 100 graduate certificates.

Temple also might be one of the best colleges in Pennsylvania for students who love the arts. Not only are there more than 150 arts courses in the catalog, but the university puts on around 1,400 arts events for students and the public each year.

The University of Pittsburgh has an impressive record of firsts in the medical sciences. Not only did professors and researchers here invent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and synthesize insulin for the first time, but a research team from Pitt helped Dr. Jonas Salk create and perfect his polio vaccine in 1955.

Since its initial founding as the Pittsburgh Academy in 1787, Pitt has grown into a robust institution that serves more than 25,000 students on campus and online. It also offers a range of massive open online courses (MOOCs) online and free to the public.

Students looking for a good value for their college dollar shouldn't overlook this old-guard institution, either. Kiplinger's Personal Finance has selected Pitt as one of the 100 best-value public colleges in the U.S. for more than 15 straight years.

Known as Saint Thomas College when it was founded in 1888, the University of Scranton is another one of our best universities in Pennsylvania with roots in the Jesuit faith. As is typically the case with Jesuit universities, degree programs here aim to impart to students a respect for all disciplines by beginning with a firm foundation in the liberal arts.

Degrees at the University of Scranton come from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kania School of Management and the Panuska College of Professional Studies. Each college has its own academic advising center to address the needs of students looking for program-specific assistance.

Internship opportunities are available to all students at Scranton. Some internships feature faculty oversight and lead to course credit, while others focus on providing experience alone.

Villanova University has learned a thing or two about fostering student success in its 170+ years of history. Its retention rate -- the percentage of first-year students who return as sophomores -- hovers around 95 percent, and nine out of ten students stick with their programs until graduation.

A focus on maximizing the quality of each student's time spent in school may have something to do with those impressive numbers. An average class size of 22 and a student-faculty ratio of 12:1 were reported in 2016, allowing for easier engagement between professors and students.

The law school is one of the points of pride for this Roman Catholic institution. Six total law degrees are available, including a regular Juris Doctor (J.D.) program, a joint J.D./M.B.A. and a Master of Laws (L.L.M.) in taxation.

There are a handful of Pennsylvania schools with low student-faculty ratios, but few are as attractive as the number reported at Lehigh University. This Bethlehem school boasts a ratio of just nine students per faculty member, meaning you likely won't be left wanting if you need additional help from your professors.

Research is a big part of the culture at Lehigh, particularly research that blurs the boundaries between subjects of study and encourages meaningful exchange across the disciplines. The university produces several research and scholarship publications, focusing separately on the arts and sciences, engineering, education and business.

Interdisciplinary degree programs also contribute to the boundary-crossing mission at Lehigh. Undergraduate crossover degrees include computer science and business (CSB), business and engineering (IBE) and engineering, arts and science (IDEAS).

Thanks to a total student enrollment figure that came in above 17,000, West Chester University of Pennsylvania is the largest of the 14 colleges in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). It admits around 8,500 first-year students and 2,000 transfer students annually.

WCU takes pride in its dedication to serving military veterans in the most complete way possible. G.I. Jobs named the West Chester school on its list of military friendly universities in 2017, and the school maintains a study and support center designed to meet the needs of active duty and veteran military personnel.

Students at WCU also pitch in and give back to their community and the world at large. More than 750,000 hours of volunteer service were generated by WCU students in 2016-17, at home in Chester County and internationally, making this top college in Pennsylvania a good choice for those in favor of community service.