“Private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, known until 1972 as Pennsylvania Military College.”
Widener University is a private, metropolitan university founded in 1821 and located in Chester, Pennsylvania, about 12 miles southwest of central Philadelphia and 20 miles from Wilmington, Delaware. With roughly 6,500 students across undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, Widener is organized into eight colleges and schools spanning arts and sciences, business, engineering, nursing, hospitality management, human service professions, law, and education. The university emphasizes civic engagement as a core institutional value — students complete service-learning experiences in Chester and the broader Delaware Valley, and Widener has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation with its Community Engagement Classification. Academically, Widener's signature strengths cluster in the professional schools. The School of Business Administration holds AACSB accreditation (a distinction held by only about 5% of business schools worldwide) and runs nationally recognized undergraduate hospitality management and MBA programs. The School of Engineering offers ABET-accredited programs in biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, and robotics engineering with extensive hands-on laboratory work. The School of Nursing is one of the oldest in Pennsylvania and places graduates throughout Philadelphia's major hospital networks. Widener also houses an ABA-accredited law school (Delaware Law School) on a separate campus and a Commonwealth Law campus in Harrisburg. The student experience combines a traditional residential undergraduate campus — most freshmen live on the 108-acre Chester main campus — with the professional opportunities of the Philadelphia corridor. Student-faculty ratio is 11:1. Widener is test-flexible for international applicants, accepts the Common Application and its own application, reviews files on a rolling basis, and automatically considers international freshmen for merit scholarships starting at $25,000/year (Widener Presidential Scholarship). For international students, Widener pitches itself as a well-resourced mid-sized alternative to the larger Philadelphia research universities, with hands-on professional programs and direct access to internships in the country's fourth-largest metro area.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceEarly Action
Non-binding; decision by Thanksgiving; early consideration for merit awards.
Rolling / Regular Decision
Applications reviewed on rolling basis; international decisions typically in 2-4 weeks after file is complete.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$55,730
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
4 years
Widener's hospitality program is among the longest-running on the East Coast, combining AACSB-accredited business coursework with industry internships at major hotel, restaurant, and event-management employers.
4 years
ABET-accredited program with hands-on laboratory sequences and close connections to Philadelphia's life-sciences corridor; strong pipeline to medical school and biotech industry roles.
4 years
Four-year BSN with simulation labs, progressive clinical rotations in Philadelphia-area hospitals, and a strong NCLEX-RN pass rate. Accelerated and graduate entry options also available.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $55,730
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
