Two centuries ago, at the bucolic confluence of the Ohio and Beaver Rivers in the westernmost part of Pennsylvania, the French established a trading post, where members of the Delaware, Shawnee, and Iroquois tribes bartered with European traders. The rivers were essential for travel, sustenance, and military defense, and General McIntosh of Washington’s Colonial Army built a fort at this place during the Revolutionary War.
As the area’s population expanded, McIntosh's fort became the town of Beaver, Pa. There, in 1853, an intellectual outpost was formed—a school to teach such liberal arts as ancient history, rhetoric, and logic at a time when there were few higher education institutions open to young women.
The school attained collegiate status in 1872. By 1925, Beaver College had experienced such tremendous growth that the school moved to a more adequate campus in Jenkintown, Pa., with larger facilities and greater opportunities for development. The change resulted in such an increase in enrollment that the Board of Trustees imposed limitations on annual enrollment to maintain the advantages of a small college.
Needing additional property to accommodate its expansion, the Trustees of Beaver College secured a nearby estate known as Grey Towers in 1928. Located in Glenside, Pa., a suburb of metropolitan Philadelphia, the estate offered spacious property and dignified facades. This change in scenery proved its worth when Beaver College became an accredited institution in 1946. The school operated both the Jenkintown and Glenside campuses into the mid-1960s, when it consolidated all activities onto the Grey Towers property.
In July 2001 the school was granted University status, and the Board of Trustees approved a historic decision to change the name of Beaver College to Arcadia University.
Today, as a leader in study abroad and a pioneer in international education, Arcadia University encourages students to engage in integrative, real-world learning opportunities such as internships, evidence-based research, service projects, interdisciplinary study, problem-based learning, and co-curricular experiences that expand beyond the traditional classroom. More than 2,500 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate students are enrolled at Arcadia’s Glenside, Pa., and Christiana, Del., campuses in more than 65 fields of study.
The College of Global Studies at Arcadia University, officially opened in 2009, offers study abroad programs through more than 130 programs in 12 countries to students from colleges and universities across the U.S., in addition to Arcadia undergraduates. The Institute for International Education's Open Doors Report has ranked Arcadia University #1 in the U.S. for study abroad participation for eight consecutive years.
