Philadelphia Textile

Philadelphia University

Motto	Powered to Do What's Now, Powered to Do What's Next!™
Type	Private
Established	1884
Endowment	$23 million
President	Stephen Spinelli Jr., PhD
Administrative staff	~200+
Undergraduates	2,888
Postgraduates	652
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Campus	Suburban, 100 acres (0.4 km²)
Colors	Maroon and Grey
Athletics	PhilaU Athletics
Affiliations	Division II NCAA, CACC
Mascot	Phil the Ram
Website	www.philau.edu

Philadelphia University (PhilaU), founded in 1884, is a private university in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The student body has about 3,500 students. Academic programs are divided among the College of Architecture and the Built Environment; the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce; the College of Science, Health and the Liberal Arts; and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies; courses are also offered via PhilaU Online. Philadelphia University awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees. In May 2017, the university officially announced that it will be merging with Thomas Jefferson University, therefore changing its name in July of that year.

At the 1876 Centennial Exposition, local textile manufacturers noticed that Philadelphia's textile industry was falling behind its rivals' capacity, technology, and ability. In 1880, they formed the Philadelphia Association of Manufacturers of Textile Fabrics, with Theodore C. Search as its president, to fight for higher tariffs on imported textiles and to educate local textile leaders. Search joined the board of directors of the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of the Arts), thinking it the perfect partner for his plans for a school, and began fundraising in 1882.

In early 1884, Search himself taught the first classes of the Philadelphia Textile School to five students at 1336 Spring Garden Street. The school was officially opened on November 5, 1884.

The school moved to 1303-1307 Buttonwood Street in 1891, then moved again in 1893.

Enrollment had been growing steadily and the school was turning away "bright young fellows" for lack of space. Search and the board of trustees of the school took out a mortgage on the former Philadelphia Institute of the Deaf and Dumb on the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets. This allowed rapid expansion of academic offerings and capacity of students.