Photo: Shuvaev (CC BY-SA 3.0)
School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, is known nationally for its study abroad program, with a large share of students going overseas at some point, many during their first year, and for Grey Towers Castle, a Gothic-revival mansion at the heart of campus that houses first-year residence rooms.
Academics
Physical therapy and other health professions, along with education, are established strengths, built on Arcadia's long institutional experience running international programs that let health-sciences and other students combine coursework with structured time abroad. Global and international study is embedded across majors rather than confined to one department.
Campus & student life
The castle at the center of campus is a genuine architectural landmark, and housing first-year students inside it is a real novelty among American colleges rather than a marketing point. Glenside is a quiet suburb with rail access into Philadelphia, giving students city access without an urban campus.
Getting in
Admissions is holistic, and demonstrated interest in study abroad or international experience can be a meaningful part of an application given how central that mission is to Arcadia's identity.
Worth knowing
The volume and integration of study abroad is unusual even among schools that advertise global programs: many Arcadia students go overseas as freshmen through the university's own long-run partner programs, rather than applying separately in junior year, which is the more common model elsewhere.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
arcadia.edu ↗High school coursework
RequiredHigh school transcript required; no strict high school unit minimums enforced
Recommended4 units of English · 4 units of History and Social Studies · 3 units of Mathematics (including Algebra II and Geometry) · 2 units of Modern Language (same language) · 3 units of Laboratory Science
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