Introduction
Penn State Erie, the Behrend College (Behrend) is located on an 854-acre campus in Erie, Pennsylvania. What began as the Genhill Farm estate of Ernst Behrend later became the University of Pennsylvania’s Behrend College campus when it was donated to the institution in 1948. It started with a class of 146 students in what was then called The Behrend Center. Students could take only their freshman year at the Center, and then had to transfer to another university. In 1959, this campus became the Behrend campus of Penn State.
The Behrend campus became a four-year institution and began awarding graduate degrees in 1973. It was the first Penn State location beyond University Park to earn this accreditation. Since then, it has continued to expand both its academic programs and its physical campus, adding a number of buildings and facilities to meet growing student needs.
Today, Behrend serves over 4,500 students with over 50 academic, administrative, and support buildings. It has a $10.2 million recreation and athletics center, a chapel, an observatory, a baseball and softball complex, a Research and Economic Development Center, and three residence halls.
