The process of moving in to the Penn dorms around 1940—when this picture was taken—was a lot different than it is today.
First off, students back then weren’t lugging computers, microwaves and other equipment into dorm rooms to help make college life easier.
The cost of a Penn education was much different, too. According to records from the University Archives, tuition for an undergraduate Penn education—which included the College, College of Liberal Arts for Women, School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Wharton School—was just $400, plus a general fee of $20. Room and Board ran $520, and textbooks cost an additional $45.
Prices have increased, of course—though, today, and for the first time in Penn history, all undergraduates who are eligible for financial aid will receive grants rather than loans in their aid packages. Today’s undergraduates are more diverse: Ten percent of the students in the class of 2013 are the first in their families to attend college. They are a talented bunch, too: Based on SAT scores, GPA and class rank, the class is the most gifted in the University’s history.
For more information on historical events at Penn, visit the University Archives web site at www.archives.upenn.edu.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
