An Introduction to
Millersville University
THE UNIVERSITY
Innovation in education is the philosophy of Millersville. Established in 1855, the University initiated master’s degree programs in 1959. In 1982, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed Senate Bill 506, creating the State System of Higher Education, effective July 1, 1983. On that date Millersville State College became Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
From its mid-19th century proportion of one building on seven and a half acres, MU has grown to a 250-acre campus with more than 60 buildings. The landscaped setting has a central pond set within lawns and gardens. The University’s modern research facilities, blended with Romanesque Revival structures and late-Victorian wooden frame houses, reflect its integration of contemporary and classical elements of education. Simultaneously innovative and traditional, this setting encourages close faculty-student relationships as an important component of academic and personal development.
THE COMMUNITY
Millersville is in Lancaster County, the heartland
of central Pennsylvania. The adjacent city of Lancaster, a growing metropolitan
area, offers extensive shopping centers and excellent restaurants, theaters,
and apartment complexes against a backdrop of rich, verdant farmlands.
Millersville Borough has blocks of modern residences that share streets
with 100-year-old homes; shopping facilities have been constructed without
marring the community’s essential beauty. The campus is within a two-and-a-half
hour drive of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington and a three-and-a-half
hour drive from New York City.
STUDENT BODY
Millersville University enrolled 7,500 students
in Fall 2000, of whom 900 were graduate students. Graduate students came
from several states and foreign countries. The placement and employment
rate of graduate students is excellent, exceeding 90 percent in most areas.
Education and social service departments devote considerable attention
to the placement of graduates. The liberal arts and science departments
encourage their graduates to pursue doctoral or research programs.