University Park | |
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Pennsylvania State University Flagship Campus | |
Old Main building in University Park – late fall
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Location in Pennsylvania | |
Coordinates: 40°47′46″N 77°51′46″W / 40.79611°N 77.86278°WCoordinates: 40°47′46″N 77°51′46″W / 40.79611°N 77.86278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | Centre |
Borough / Township | State College / College Township |
Government | |
• University President | Eric J. Barron |
Area | |
• Total | 1.51 sq mi (3.9 km2) |
Elevation | 1,154 ft (352 m) |
Population (2015) | |
• Total | 13,700 |
Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
ZIP code | 16802 |
Area code | 814 |
School district | State College Area School District |
Website | www |
University Park is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's flagship campus, and University Park, Pennsylvania is the postal address used by Penn State. The University Park campus is located in State College and adjacent College Township, Pennsylvania. The campus post office was designated "University Park, Pennsylvania" in 1953 by Penn State president Milton Eisenhower, after what was then Pennsylvania State College was upgraded to university status.
The University Park campus sits within the State College Metropolitan Statistical Area (population 153,990), which encompasses all of Centre County, Pennsylvania. The ZCTA for ZIP code 16802 had a population of 12,764 at the 2010 census.
The school that later became Penn State University was founded as a degree-granting institution on February 22, 1855, by act P.L. 46, No. 50 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. Centre County, Pennsylvania, became the home of the new school when James Irvin of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, donated 200 acres (0.8 km2) of land – the first of 10,101 acres (41 km2) the school would eventually acquire. In 1862, the school's name was changed to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and with the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Pennsylvania selected the school in 1863 to be the state's sole land-grant college. The school's name changed to the Pennsylvania State College in 1874; enrollment fell to 64 undergraduates the following year as the school tried to balance purely agricultural studies with a more classic education.