College Profile:
Lincoln University

A Prolific Producer of Leaders

Students from across our nation and foreign countries seek enrollment at Lincoln University primarily because of its reputation of providing a quality education as well as producing national and international leaders. Founded in 1854 as the first degree-granting historically black university, Lincoln is located in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, 45 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

Under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Ivory V. Nelson, appointed the institution's 12th president in 1999, Lincoln University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. It offers undergraduate programs in the arts and sciences and graduate programs in human services, reading, education, mathematics and administration. The quality of those programs is attracting record number of students to the university. For academic year 2006-2007, for example, Lincoln University experienced an enrollment of 2,423 students, largest in school history.

Lincoln University prides itself on preparing students for roles of leadership through its quality academic programs that are organized under the schools of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Behavioral Studies, and Humanities and Graduate Studies. The university has established five Centers of Excellence, including the sciences, teacher education, business and technology and mass communications. The fifth center is a collaborative art program with The Barnes Foundation and the first of its kind in the nation.

Besides boasting quality academic programs, the university maintains a commitment to provide students extramural fulfillment. Toward that goal, the university will soon revive its football and marching band programs. The football team will launch its first competitive season in 2009 since 1960.

Students are also attracted to Lincoln University as a result of a faculty that is recognized for its commitment and dedication to the success of students. Faculty is always available to assist and advise students in a collegial and inviting environment that facilitates learning. The faculty also are fully engaged in research activities, those designed to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of Pennsylvania and those with implications for the betterment of humanity.

The university understands that an institution must maintain and sustain an environment for learning. Toward that aim, Lincoln University has been involved in a massive campus beautification and renovation effort. Several buildings have had interior facelifts and during the current school year the university will break ground for the construction of two edifices, an International Culture Center and a Science and Technology Building.

Meanwhile, students give the university high praise for preparing them in their chosen field of study.

"I feel very comfortable at Lincoln University," said Wachen Peters, a freshman from Sierra Leone, West Africa. "My professors are great and I enjoy my classes. Lincoln University will prepare me to be successful in life."

Said senior Jeff Joubert from Linden, N.J.: "Lincoln University has given me the ability to express myself and the confidence to be anything I want to be. I feel confident that I am prepared to face the challenges of the workforce when I graduate."

During its first one hundred years, the university graduated about 20 percent of the African-American physicians and more than 10 percent of the African-American attorneys in the United States. Its alumni have headed over 35 colleges and universities and scores of prominent churches. At least 10 of its alumni have served as United States ambassadors or mission chiefs. Many are federal, state and municipal judges, and several have served as mayors or city managers.

Two of the university's more notable graduates are Langston Hughes, world-acclaimed poet, and Thurgood Marshall, first African-American associate justice of the U. S. Supreme Court.