Editing Pennsylvania (section)

==Education==
{{Main|Education in Pennsylvania}}
Pennsylvania has 500 public school districts, thousands of private schools, publicly funded colleges and universities, and over 100 private institutions of higher education.

===Primary and secondary education===
{{See also|List of high schools in Pennsylvania|List of school districts in Pennsylvania}}
[[File:South Philly HS.JPG|thumb|[[South Philadelphia High School]] on [[Broad Street (Philadelphia)|Broad Street]] in [[South Philadelphia]] in February 2010]]
Under state law, school attendance in Pennsylvania is mandatory for children between ages eight and 17, or until graduation from an accredited high school, whichever is earlier, unless students are [[Homeschooling in the United States|homeschooled]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pde.state.pa.us/|title=Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)|access-date=December 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202153904/http://www.pde.state.pa.us/|archive-date=December 2, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2005, 83.8% of Pennsylvania residents age 18 to 24 are high school graduates. Among residents age 25 and over, 86.7% have graduated from high school.

The following are the four-year graduation rates for students completing high school in 2016:<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Education|title=Cohort Graduation Rate|url=http://www.education.pa.gov/Data-and-Statistics/Pages/Cohort-Graduation-Rate-.aspx#tab-1|access-date=October 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201083645/http://www.education.pa.gov/Data-and-Statistics/Pages/Cohort-Graduation-Rate-.aspx#tab-1|archive-date=February 1, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Cohort !! All Students !! Male!! Female !! White !! Hispanic !! Black !! Asian !! Special Education
|-
| % graduating || 86.09 || 84.14 || 88.13 || 90.48 || 72.83 || 73.22 || 91.21 || 74.06
|}

Among Pennsylvania high school graduates as of 2009, 27.5% of them went on to obtain a bachelor's degree or higher degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nces.ed.gov/|title=National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)|access-date=December 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116125625/http://nces.ed.gov/|archive-date=January 16, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> State students consistently do well in standardized testing. In 2007, Pennsylvania ranked 14th in the nation in mathematics, 12th in reading, and 10th in writing for eighth grade students.<ref>'NCES'.</ref> In 1988, the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] passed Act 169, which allows parents or guardians to homeschool their children as an alternative to compulsory school attendance. The law specifies varying geographic requirements and responsibilities on the part of parents and school districts.<ref>[http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp Pennsylvania Department of Education: Home Education and Private Tutoring, Retrieved December 4, 2009.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105050517/http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp |date=November 5, 2009 }}</ref>

===Higher education===
{{See also|List of colleges and universities in Pennsylvania}}
[[File:Benjamin Franklin statue in front of College Hall.JPG|thumb|The ''[[Statue of Benjamin Franklin (University of Pennsylvania)|Statue of Benjamin Franklin]]'' on the campus of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in [[West Philadelphia]], which pays tribute to [[Benjamin Franklin]], a [[Founding Father of the United States|Founding Father]] who founded the university, now an [[Ivy League]] institution and one of the world's top universities, in 1740<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2022 |title=Best National University Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities |access-date=April 27, 2022 |website=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref>]]

"Pennsylvania has the fourth most higher education institutions of any state," according to ''[[Inside Higher Ed]]'', with 250 universities and colleges.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Knox |first=Liam |date=July 12, 2023 |title=Fighting for Scraps in Pennsylvania |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2023/07/12/pa-public-colleges-battle-students-and-funding |access-date=July 12, 2023 |work=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref> The state is ranked second among the nation’s top destinations for freshman out-of-state college students, according to [[NPR]]/[[PBS]] affiliate [[WHYY-TV|WHYY]], which cites a study by the [[Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania]] (AICUP).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Stephen |date=September 12, 2024 |title=Pa. ranked 2nd among nation's top destinations for freshman out-of-state college students, survey says |url=https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-freshman-out-of-state-students/ |access-date=September 12, 2024 |work=WHYY (NPR/PBS)}}</ref> Pennsylvania is third in the nation for the quantity of "Best Colleges", according to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Brendan |date=September 5, 2024 |title=Wall Street Journal ranks Pennsylvania colleges third in the nation |url=https://www.fox43.com/article/life/announcements/wall-street-journal-pennsylvania-ranked-third-colleges/521-6c2c50c5-6b06-42b5-8280-647814cf4b89 |access-date=September 5, 2024 |work=WPMT Fox43}}</ref> 

The [[Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education]] (PASSHE), which includes 14 state-owned universities and colleges, is Pennsylvania's [[public university]] system. [[West Chester University]] is by far the largest of the 14 with nearly 15,000 students. The [[Commonwealth System of Higher Education]] is the organizing body of Pennsylvania's four state-related schools, which include [[Pennsylvania State University]], [[Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)|Lincoln University]], the [[University of Pittsburgh]], and [[Temple University]]. There are 15 publicly-funded two-year [[Community colleges in the United States|community colleges]] and technical schools in Pennsylvania that are separate from the PASSHE system, and many private two- and four-year technical schools, colleges, and universities.

[[Carnegie Mellon University]], [[Pennsylvania State University]], the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and the [[University of Pittsburgh]] are members of the [[Association of American Universities]], an invitation-only organization of leading research universities. [[Lehigh University]], founded in 1865 and located in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]], is a private research university. The Pennsylvania State University is Pennsylvania's [[land-grant university]], [[National Sea Grant College Program|Sea Grant College]], and [[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space Grant College]]. 

The University of Pennsylvania, founded in [[West Philadelphia]] in 1740 by [[Benjamin Franklin]], a [[Founding Father of the United States|Founding Father]] of the nation, is Pennsylvania's only [[Ivy League]] university, and is the geographically most southern of the nation's eight Ivy League universities. The University of Pennsylvania was one of the [[first university in the United States|first universities established in the nation]]; its medical school, [[Perelman School of Medicine]], founded in 1765, was the first [[List of medical schools in the United States|medical school]] established in the nation.

The [[Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine]] (LECOM) is a private graduate school of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy with a main campus in Erie, a branch campus in [[Greensburg, Pennsylvania|Greensburg]], and two additional campuses outside Pennsylvania. It is the largest medical school in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lecom.edu/about-lecom/quick-facts/|title=Quick Facts|access-date=August 13, 2020}}</ref> The [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]] is the first and oldest [[art school]] in the United States.<ref name="pafa.org">{{cite web|title=History of the School |url=http://www.pafa.org/School/Overview/History-of-the-School/350/ |website=pafa.org|access-date=April 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615012302/http://www.pafa.org/School/Overview/History-of-the-School/350/|archive-date=June 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Philadelphia College of Pharmacy]], now part of [[University of the Sciences |University of the Sciences in Philadelphia]], was the first [[pharmacy school]] in the United States.<ref name="usciences.edu">{{cite web |title=About—University of the Sciences |url=http://www.usciences.edu/about/|website=usciences.edu|access-date=April 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524050754/http://www.usciences.edu/about/ |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>