Chatham University

Chatham University prepares students from around the world to help develop solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges. Consistently ranked among the top master’s-level institutions in the Northeast by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, Chatham University is also ranked in the top five percent of graduate-intensive institutions nationally and experienced the fastest-growing enrollment in the Pittsburgh region over the past decade.

More than 2,200 students are enrolled in Chatham’s three distinctive Colleges:

• Chatham College for Women was founded in 1869 as Pennsylvania Female College and is one of the oldest women's colleges in the United States.
• The College for Graduate Studies offers 21 master's and doctoral degree programs to both women and men.
• The College for Continuing and Professional Studies offers eight degree programs through the doctoral level as well as non-degree and certificate programs.  CCPS also presents community programming including the Summer Music and Arts Day Camp.

In June 2009 Chatham created the School of Sustainability and the Environment (SSE) to apply the co-equal principles of sustainability - social justice, economic development, and environmental studies - within a systems perspective in order to create a new, trans-disciplinary academic initiative. The School's vision honors the legacy of Rachel Carson, Chatham’s most distinguished alumna, who founded the modern environmental movement.

Two Campuses

Chatham’s Shadyside Campus is the University's historic, original location and includes the 39-acre Woodland Road arboretum. The Shadyside Campus expanded in 2008 with the opening of the 7-acre Chatham Eastside facility less than one mile east from Woodland Road, which houses the University's architecture and health science programs. Chatham became the largest campus in Allegheny County - yet with the smallest carbon footprint - in 2008 with the gift of the 388-acre Eden Hall Campus in Richland Township, approximately 19 miles north of the Shadyside Campus. The Eden Hall Campus will be the new home of Chatham's new School of Sustainability and the Environment.  (Click here to view the master plan for Eden Hall Campus.)

Thinking Outside the Box

Throughout its history Chatham has been innovative and entrepreneurial in its growth from a small women's college to a dynamic University. Some of these forward-thinking initiatives include:

• The Accelerated Graduate Program allows an undergraduate student to begin a Chatham graduate program during her senior year and earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in as few as five years.
• The Bachelor of Interior Architecture is one of the first three-year degree programs in the United States that doesn't include summer study, thereby allowing students to still participate in summer internships and job opportunities.
• The Master of Physician Assistant Studies program is noted for its problem-based learning pedagogy and interprofessional training of its students.
• The Master of Arts in Food Studies is unique in its emphasis on a holistic approach to food systems and is the only graduate food studies programs in the U.S to offer both sustainable agriculture and culinary arts and cuisine within a liberal arts environment.
• The Gateway Program was one of first undergraduate programs in the U.S. designed exclusively for women over the age of 23 who want to return to college and earn a bachelor's degree.

Awards and Honors

• Institution of Distinction, Association of American Colleges and Universities (2002)
• Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education: Internationalizing the Campus, presented by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (2003)
• A “Best College in the Mid-Atlantic,” “Best College in the Northeast,” and the Greenest campus in Pittsburgh, Princeton Review
• One of the best bike-friendly businesses in the U.S., League of American Bicyclists

Mission Statement

Chatham University prepares its students, bachelors through doctoral level, on campus and around the world, to excel in their professions and to be engaged, environmentally responsible, globally conscious, life-long learners, and citizen leaders for democracy. Chatham College for Women offers superb career preparation informed by the liberal arts. Chatham College for Graduate Studies and Chatham College for Continuing and Professional Studies provide men and women with undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education of the highest quality with primary emphasis on preparation for work and the professions.

Accreditation

• Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (MOT)
• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (MPAS)
• American Chemical Society (Undergraduate Chemistry)
• American Physical Therapy Association (DPT)
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (RN-to-BSN, MSN, DNP)
• Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (DPT)Council for Interior Design Accreditation (MIA)
• Council on Social Work Education (BSW)
• Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (MLA)
• Pennsylvania Department of Education Teacher Certification Program (MAT)