University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania, often colloquially referred to simply as Penn, was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin as America's first university. Franklin's university challenged the educational norms of the day; while other colleges of the Colonial era trained men for the Christian ministry, Franklin envisioned an academic university designed to prepare students for careers in business, government, and public service. Centuries later, Penn's ecosystem remains one of innovation and the university is consistently ranked among the best in the country. Penn boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 and is home to the Annenberg School of Communication, which was established by Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg in 1958.