Penn State University is a public university with graduate business programs in University Park, Pennsylvania. Those programs run through the Smeal College of Business. The institution is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The business school holds AACSB accreditation - one of 16 of the 17 schools in MBA Lab's Pennsylvania directory that do. It is the longest-established of the three business-school accreditors recognized in the United States, and it covers the school as a whole rather than any one program - a floor, not a ranking. More on accreditation.
Federal reporting puts graduate enrollment at 8,133 students, alongside 42,284 undergraduates. Total enrollment is not MBA cohort size - ask the admissions office how many students are in the specific program you're considering, which is usually a far smaller number and the one that shapes your experience.
Based on MBA Lab's directory data, the school offers a graduate MBA path and an online MBA format for remote or working students. That puts it among the 6 of 17 schools in MBA Lab's Pennsylvania directory listing an online MBA. Format availability changes; confirm the current lineup with the school before planning around it.
It is the only school in University Park in this directory - the other 5 online MBA options in Pennsylvania are elsewhere in the state, so weigh travel time against fit before ruling them out.
What to ask Penn State University
These questions are picked from what MBA Lab's data already says about this school, so they're the ones most likely to surface a real difference between it and the next school on your list.
- Residency and tuition tier. As a public institution, Penn State University may price in-state and out-of-state students differently, and some programs charge a flat rate regardless. Ask which tier you'd fall into and whether it changes after a year of residency.
- What "online" means here. Ask whether classes are live at set times or self-paced, whether any on-campus residencies are required, and whether online students get the same career services, clubs, and recruiting access as on-campus students. These answers vary widely between schools that use the same word.
- Where the degree is administered. Programs run through the Smeal College of Business may have their own admissions timeline, aid pool, and career office, separate from the university's central graduate school. Confirm which office owns your application.
- Ask for the school's own outcome numbers. The federal figures on this page cover business master's graduates who took federal aid, pooled across several years. The school's employment report will be narrower and more current - ask for it by program and by graduating class, not a blended average.