Overview
Located in southcentral Pennsylvania, York College offers more than 50 baccalaureate majors in professional programs, the sciences and humanities to its 4,600 undergraduate students. The College also offers master’s programs in business, education and nursing, and a doctorate in nursing practice. A center of affordable academic excellence, York is dedicated to the intellectual, professional and social growth of its students. The College helps them develop a concrete plan to attain academic growth and career success; encourages them to try in the “real world” what they learn in the classroom; and prepares them to be professionals in whatever career they pursue.
York College of Pennsylvania traces its institutional lineage to the York County Academy, which received its charter from the General Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1787. In 1929, the Academy merged with the York Collegiate Institute, and in 1941, the Institute’s charter was amended to offer two-year degree programs at the junior college level. The new institution adopted the name York Junior College. In 1965, a new campus was dedicated at the College’ s current location, and in 1968, the curriculum was expanded to offer bachelor’s degree programs. The institution’s name was again changed, this time to York College of Pennsylvania.
York College is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and has specialized accreditation for its business, engineering, nursing, allied health, and recreation programs. Teacher certification programs in education have been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Mission of the College
To make available, at the baccalaureate and associate degree levels, high-quality academic programs, which include general education components appropriate for the program’s degree level and which cover a broad range of majors in professional and career fields as well as the arts and sciences;
To offer carefully selected master’s, doctoral, and other graduate degree programs, which reflect the enrollment emphases of the undergraduate curriculum and the professional development needs of the region;
To create a teaching and learning environment characterized by individual attention to students, high-quality classroom instruction, thoughtful application of relevant technology, encouragement of lifelong learning, attention to critical thinking skills, and strict adherence to principles of academic honesty;
To provide York College’s educational programs with a superior degree of efficiency, in order to maintain the lowest feasible costs for students;
To attract applications from students from a variety of social, economic, and geographic backgrounds, playing a special role in addressing the higher education aspirations of the people of York County;
To enroll principally students whose academic preparation places them in the broad middle to above-average range of applicants for their intended degree programs, while remaining open to accepting some students who have demonstrated the capacity and motivation to succeed, even though they have not yet fully achieved their academic potential;
To provide educational opportunities for traditional-age, adult, full-time, and part-time students;
To facilitate the holistic development of students who devote full-time to their collegiate experience through their active participation in campus life;
To build and sustain a stimulating campus community that engages student interest and involvement in cultural, spiritual, sports, and recreational programs;
To provide appropriate enrichment activities for part-time and adult learners; and
To place at the service of the community to the extent feasible the College’s human and cultural resources and educational facilities. |