Pennsylvania: Government and Higher Education

Pennsylvania is governed under the constitution adopted in 1873 and amended extensively since then. The governor serves a four-year term and may be reelected for one additional term. The state legislature, called the general assembly, consists of a senate of 50 members and a house of representatives of 203 members. Pennsylvania sends 2 senators and 18 representatives to the U.S. Congress and has 20 electoral votes. The state has voted both Democratic and Republican in both local and national races.

Among the state's many universities and colleges are Bryn Mawr College, at Bryn Mawr; Bucknell Univ., at Lewisburg; Carnegie-Mellon Univ., the Univ. of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne Univ., at Pittsburgh; Dickinson College, at Carlisle; Drexel Univ., Temple Univ., the Univ. of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's Univ., and La Salle College, at Philadelphia; Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster; Haverford College, at Haverford; Lafayette College, at Easton; Lehigh Univ., at Bethlehem; Lincoln Univ., at Oxford; Pennsylvania State Univ., mainly at University Park; Swarthmore College, at Swarthmore; Villanova Univ., at Villanova; and the 14 universities in the state system.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Government Reform and Economic Restructuring
• The Rise of Industry and the Labor Movement
• From the Whiskey Rebellion to the Civil War
• The American Revolution and a New Nation
• Western Settlement and Native American Resistance
• Penn's Colony
• Exploration and Early Settlement
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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