Widener University

Private · Moderately Selective · PA

Photo: Smallbones (Public domain)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationPA · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads2,951

Student:faculty11:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate60.8%

6-yr grad rate68.3%

Drop-out rate21.6%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$56k

Out-of-state tuition$56k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity48.7%

Gender diversity61.1%

International1.6%

Identity—

Overview

Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, just southwest of Philadelphia, that grew out of a 19th-century military college before becoming a fully civilian institution. It keeps a modest, career-focused character rather than a traditional liberal-arts feel, with an identity built around professional preparation more than campus prestige. The Chester setting, an old industrial city on the Delaware River, is workmanlike rather than picturesque.

Academics

Nursing and engineering are Widener's strongest and most established programs, both built around heavy clinical or lab components and steady placement into the Philadelphia-area job market. The university's affiliated law school, based across the border in Delaware, gives pre-law students an unusually direct pipeline, and business and social work round out the professional core. Co-ops and required internships are woven into most degree programs rather than left as optional extras.

Campus & student life

The campus sits along the Delaware River in Chester, a small city with a working-class, industrial history rather than a college-town feel, and many students draw on nearby Philadelphia and Wilmington for internships, entertainment, and off-campus life. Civic engagement and community service around Chester itself are part of the university's identity, reflecting its emphasis on applied, service-oriented learning. Athletics compete at the Division III level, and the campus is small enough that most students recognize each other by senior year.

Getting in

Widener's review is straightforward rather than heavily essay-driven, with academic preparation and fit for a specific professional program, especially nursing, weighing more than polish. Applicants to competitive health programs should expect closer scrutiny of science coursework and grades than the university's overall profile would suggest.

After graduation

Nursing and engineering graduates place reliably with Philadelphia-region hospitals, health systems, and engineering employers, helped by the co-op and internship requirements built into those degrees. The law school connection gives pre-law students an established, if not exclusive, path forward.

Worth knowing

Required co-ops and internships mean most Widener students graduate with real workplace experience already behind them, which is part of the university's pitch to career-focused applicants. The law school is a separate campus in Delaware, not something undergraduates attend directly, but the relationship does create built-in law-school familiarity for interested pre-law students.

widener.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate70.9%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1080–1290

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying