YourCollegeProfile.com • Become a fan of YourCollegeProfile.com on Facebook

Access Security Profile!

Saint Joseph's University Profile

Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania

The Basics

Founded in 1851, Saint Joseph’s is a relatively large private Catholic institution located in the Philadelphia suburb of Delaware Valley/Main Line. The school itself is actually situated geographically within the 2 residential communities of Philadelphia, and Lower Merion Township. The footprint of the site is split into 2 large facilities, one being the old campus, and the other being the new Maquire campus across the street. St. Joe’s is unique because it has an urban, and suburban school feel to it. The university has a large footprint of approximately 98 acres of park like property within the historic City of Philadelphia. The physical layout observes numerous historic buildings shared by students, and local residents. The campus itself has approximately 88 buildings including lecture, residential, research, and dining facilities.

The overall physical layout of the campus is typical of a college setting with wide sidewalks, grass field meeting places, and park like benches. The pedestrian flow of traffic within the facility was centered between both campuses during my daytime visit. Students use a footbridge to cross City Avenue (Route 1), which cuts the campus into 2 parts. Students use the bridge on a regular basis because both sides of the campus have lecture, residential, and athletic fields to use. I observed heavy foot traffic in, and around Campion student center, and Hagan recreation center during my campus tour.

The St Joe’s buildings and open spaces were very clean and well maintained during my observations. These open spaces allow students the ability to interact with each other in a non-educational manner due to the high number of observed meeting places on campus. SJU students, faculty, and employees enjoy a community, within a community lifestyle in regard to on, and off campus activities and resources. The only negative is the shortage of student housing on campus due to the school’s growth, and national appeal.

The published demographic information for the university describes a culturally diverse student population with students from all across the world. Saint Joseph’s University has developed a large campus facility to offer students a Liberal Arts and Science, and Business Administration educational format to enhance it’s commitment to different types of career endeavors.

Saint Joseph’s University: The University is home to approximately 2,054 male, and 2,193 female full time students, and 383 male, and 513 female part time students. The university also has a large graduate school population with 1,047 male, and 1,524 female students enrolled at the school. The average age of a freshman is 18 years old. 53% of students are from Pennsylvania. Others are from 39 states, and 34 foreign countries. Students on campus provide a diverse multi-cultural religious makeup including 64% Catholic, 11% Protestant, 6% other non-Christian & non-Jewish, and finally 18% claim no religious affiliation. 81% of students are white, 3% Asian Americans, 8% are Black, 3% are Hispanic, and 5% are the race is unknown.

Published Academic Standards for Admission Programs

Saint Joseph’s University has a large educational system that offer Liberal Arts, and Business Administration Graduate, and under graduate programs. Below is a specific list of under graduate admission requirements.

Freshman Class: 8,779 applied, 5,407 accepted, 1090 enrolled. SAT Verbal 570, SAT Math 580. ACT 25 Application Deadline February 1.

Student Housing

The purpose of student housing is to provide safe and reasonable accommodations for students living away from home. The issue of housing and dormitory life is a critical element of overall campus life because students spend a large amount of time in their rooms. Student housing units historically come in 3 different styles including traditional corridor, suite, and apartment style units.

St. Joe’s University guarantees on campus housing for freshman, and sophomores only, students who has filed their intent to reside on campus by the stated deadline and who have continuously registered as full time students receive housing. Upperclassmen who want on campus housing must submit to a lottery system for available rooms. The school has started developing housing resources for upper classman through it’s capital improvement initiatives. The University apartments are new, and beautiful, but only upper classmen can rent them. Information about housing can be found on the quick links page of this document.

Off Campus Housing

Saint Joseph’s University has been described as a relatively large private university within an affluent residential community. The reason I have mentioned the overall community is to re-assert the point that St. Joe’s network of facilities has encapsulated it’s real estate holdings within the area. The campus footprint allows almost every student to have housing within walking distance to the campus. The issue of off campus housing has a different feel to it compared to other university off campus housing demands.

The demand for housing, especially off campus housing is usually a tough issue for institutions attempting to keep students within the general geographical area. St. Joe’s has addressed this issue with it’s new construction projects on the Maguire campus. The new campus will have additional housing resources for all students according to university officials. The school has also started buying up residential buildings and developing housing networks for current, and future students. Information about available resources can be found on the quick links page.

Campus Life

Saint Joseph’s University is a multi-cultural campus environment that provides students with an outstanding social, and educational atmosphere. The admissions demographics paint a picture of a very diverse community with students from all over the world. The local community of Delaware Valley/ Main Line only adds to the universities international status because the community has multi-cultural roots as well. St. Joe’s also addresses the issue of ecology in a positive way. The physical environment is clean and well maintained and the economic conditions are favorable to students and local residents due to the available services in walking distance to the school.

The emotional climate of the entire community is positive because students are involved with local community groups. An observation of this very positive emotional climate can be found by looking at the endless student flyers posted throughout the campus on walls, doors, windows, and light poles. These flyers describe upcoming activities and they invite all students to enjoy the clubs, performing arts, and public discussions on world events. St. Joe’s students went as far as hanging banners outside residence halls to invite students to attend social events on campus, which was very nice.

This issue of school culture and emotional attachment is also a very important part of campus life because everyone wants to have a connection and emotional fit to their new school and community. St. Joe’s has done a great job developing positive social systems with it’s students by providing a series of coordinated programs including workshops and seminars for freshman students. This type of process provides a foundation for learning and personal growth providing over 94 academic clubs, student organizations, and over 30 intramural sports activities. St. Joe’s also has 3 national fraternities for men, and 4 national sororities for women.

Campus life at St. Joe’s is more than academic excellence; it’s about school sports, fraternities, performing arts, history, cultural events, restaurants, and local museums. The university also has several global education centers in the area for students to learn, and gather information about studying abroad. St. Joe’s students enjoy campus sports activities within the Hagan recreational center, and several muti use fields around campus including the Finnesey turf field in the middle of campus. St. Joe’s currently participates in 9 NCAA Division I Varsity Sports for Women and Men, and the university is building a new field house for students to watch, and enjoy university sports while on campus.

Public Transportation

Campus transportation resources for St. Joe’s students are available through the campus shuttle system, which provides van service for daily classes, student activities, and links to (SEPTA). This service is crucial to students who don’t have cars because it provides transportation services to the entire university community. St. Joe’s students depend on this service to take them to 6 east, and 6 western areas of the campus including some off campus shopping areas.

The school’s van service provides reliable van service to students who don’t, or can’t have vehicles on campus. The university also has a very large number of out of state students who don’t know the streets and highways very well. Knowing the area is key because students who come from local states may know the area better and may be able to walk or drive to local destinations. Foreign, and out of state students might opt to take a bus or train to their destination because they don’t want to risk getting lost on local roads.

Local weather

Weather is also an issue to consider for students preparing for a college experience. Philadelphia enjoys all four seasons of weather including rain and snow. Northeast weather patterns sometimes allow for temperatures to drop below 32 degrees for a considerable amount of time during the winter. Pennsylvania also gets it’s share of rain during the spring and summer months as well. A strong indicator of pedestrian traffic around the university can be identified by the northeast weather patterns. Student parking within close proximity to university buildings and student services help reduce the exposure literally and figuratively.

Community Profile

Lower Merion Township has been described as an affluent suburban town that feels like a small city with 59,850 residents in Montgomery County Pennsylvania. The township has also been described as a family centered residential community within striking distance to Philadelphia. Lower Merion has an intellectual side due to its historical neighborhood architecture and close physical relationship with Saint Joseph’s & Villanova Universities. The township is favorable to students and local residents because it offers a local pedestrian walkway on City Avenue, which links local residents to a large number of restaurants and local shops within the eastern edge of town. City Line & Lancaster Avenues are the main thoroughfares that travel north & west connecting several local towns to the university.

The community has a small city feel to it when you are walking to neighborhood eateries on the eastern edge of town. Residents and students enjoy several social destinations when walking east on City Line Avenue including Hawks Landing that offers coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and the New St Joe’s Basketball Facility, which is located a couple of blocks away. The walk from St Joe’s main gate to the above-mentioned meeting places is approximately 15 minutes from the campus. Students who walk off the campus and make a left turn to the western edge of City Line Avenue will mostly find suburban living except for the Overbrook Train Station for (SEPTA), which provides public transportation to the City of Philadelphia. This section of real estate becomes Lower Merion Township 4 blocks west of St. Joe’s on City Line Avenue toward Lancaster Avenue.

The township itself is located within the northeastern area of the state, which makes it convenient to several suburban communities and highway networks. SEPTA provides local rail service in the area with the R-5 Thorndale Line. This rail corridor links to the 30th Street Station which is a main link to several different commuter trains and the northeast corridor. The 30th Street Station also links to Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Philadelphia International Airport via the R-1 line. Lower Merion also has several main roadways that connect the community to major state highways including Route 1, 76, and 476 that links to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Interstate 95. Shopping, restaurants, and hotel chains can be found within these major transportation networks after a short drive from the campus. Appendix #1 on the back page of this profile lists several of observed resources in close proximity to the school.

The following demographics for Lower Merion Township describe a multi-cultural community within a total population of 59,850 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. St. Joe’s University has a strong relationship with this diverse community. An example of this commitment can be observed through the university’s community services handbook that describes educational programs, health care programs and services, legal programs and services to local residents who may require community help.

A Census Bureau community survey highlights several characteristics to describe the population including: 27,232 of residents are male, 32,618 are female. 90% of residents are white, 4.5% are African American, 1.6% is Hispanic or Latino, and 3.4% are Asian. The median age of population is 28 years old. 78% of residents are 18 years old or over and 18% of township residents is over the age of 65. The issue of housing in Lower Merion is also interesting. 96% of all housing units within the township are occupied. 24.5% of housing units are renter-occupied, while 75.5% of units are owner-occupied. Only 4% of total available housing was vacant.

Saint Joseph’s University Quick Links

Restaurants on the Main Line (Lancaster Avenue) in Suburban Philadelphia

Below is a sample list of local restaurants on the Main Line (Lancaster Avenue) in Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Wynnewood, and Ardmore Pennsylvania. These restaurants are in close proximity to several suburban Philadelphia schools including, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Villanova, and St. Joe’s. National restaurant chains & shopping resources can be found on Route 78, 476, and 22.

Complete information about hotels, restaurants, shopping, museums, and general tourism activities can be found in the document “ Everything Philadelphia” on the Your College Profile web site.

Bryn Mawr/ Haverford Restaurants

Wynnewood Restaurants

Rosemont Restaurants

Comments!

Login to comment on this profile.


There are no comments to display.

Take action now!