Primary and Secondary Schools
Philadelphia is home to the nation's first public grammar school, now known as the William Penn Charter School, founded
in 1689.
Approximately 75% of the region's children attend Public Schools. There are 185 school districts, 1126 schools and 709,541 students in the region's Public School Systems.
The remaining 25% of children attend Private Schools. The region features one of the country's largest parochial (Catholic) school systems with 349 schools which educate 141,239 students. In addition there are 80 independent private schools several of which are considered to be among the best in the country. Those schools educate an additional 23,328 students.*
Colleges and Universities
The Philadelphia Pennsylvania - South Jersey Metropolitan area is home to a large number of colleges and
universities on all levels. There are 26 campuses which offer Associate of the Arts degrees. There are 7 schools which have
Baccalaureate curriculae, 21 which offer both Baccalaureate and Masters degrees, and 15 which offer programs up to and
including the Doctoral level.
Among the region's most well known and respected colleges and universities are Bryn Mawr College, Drexel University, LaSalle University, Rosemont College, Rowan College, Rutgers University, Swarthore College, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University and Widener University.
Library Systems
Philadelphia is home to the nation's first public library - the Free Library of Philadelphia - founded by
Benjamin Franklin in 1731. The Library maintains 55 branches within the City of Philadelphia.
In addition most neighboring counties maintain their own library systems.
The region's library systems contain 12,449,852 books with an annual circulation of 24,202,337.*
*Places Rated Almanac 2000
