What Is Temple University?

Temple University is a public R1 research university in Philadelphia. It combines interdisciplinary academics with real-world experience, offering more than 600 academic programs across 17 schools and colleges, plus 8 global campuses. It is a fit if you want a large public research institution with a broad program catalog and a Philadelphia base — and it's worth a closer look if you're comparing national public universities on research activity, program range, or value.

The basics

The R1 designation is the key structural fact: it means Temple awards a substantial number of research doctorates and maintains very high research activity. That shapes what the university is set up to do — research capacity, doctoral programs, and faculty work — alongside its undergraduate teaching.

What "student outcomes" means here

Temple describes its education as centered on student outcomes, with interdisciplinary academics and real-world experiences. On its homepage, that claim is illustrated through alumni rather than stated abstractly. The featured examples include:

• Jaldhi Patel '20, a clinical research coordinator at a nationally ranked health system
• Joseph Curry '22, a business teacher at Franklin Towne Charter High School
• Breland Moore '14, a sports anchor and host at FOX 29
• Benjamin Thomas '18, a Grammy-nominated, Billboard No. 1 music producer and audio engineer

These are individual paths, not guarantees, but they show the range of fields the university points to — health, education, media, and music among them.

Academics and scale

With 600+ programs and 17 schools and colleges, Temple is built for breadth. That matters practically: if your interests are interdisciplinary or likely to shift, a large catalog gives you more room to change direction without changing institutions. The trade-off of a large public university is that you'll need to be deliberate about advising, class sizes, and finding your specific program's requirements.

Temple also operates 8 global campuses, so study-abroad or international study options are part of the institutional structure rather than an add-on.

Admissions paths

Temple separates its admissions process by level:

• Undergraduate Admissions — for first-year, international, and transfer undergraduate students
• Graduate Admissions — for master's, doctoral, and certificate programs

If you're applying, start with the path that matches your status, since requirements and deadlines differ by level and by program.

Is Temple a good fit for you?

Consider Temple if you want:

• A public R1 research university with strong research activity
• A very large program catalog (600+) and many schools and colleges (17)
• A Philadelphia location with global campus options
• A school that appears on national public-university and best-value rankings

Look elsewhere or dig deeper if you want a small institution, a narrowly specialized curriculum, or a setting outside a major urban environment. For anything program-specific — requirements, costs, deadlines — check the relevant admissions page directly, since those details vary by program and aren't covered by the university's general description.