Penn’s financial footprint spans all seven continents — including Antarctica

While Penn’s four undergraduate and 12 graduate schools might all be located in West Philadelphia, the University’s reach extends around the globe. 

In 2024, Penn’s financial activities spanned all seven continents, including Antarctica. Altogether, the University’s ventures outside of the United States accounted for well over $10 billion in spending. 

According to tax disclosures reviewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn disclosed spending in all 10 regions designated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service: Antarctica, Central America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, North America, Russia, South America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Excluding investments, Penn spent $54.4 million abroad in 2024. While grants varied widely in size, the median expenditure was just under $148,000. The University’s smallest disbursement was $500 to Antarctica for “grantmaking.” 

Penn’s two largest grants, $6.2 and $8.2 million expenditures in the European region, were both attributed to “program services.”

Program services was Penn’s most prevalent spending category on the whole, accounting for 58 of the 95 total disclosed expenditures. According to the tax filing, the category included areas such as clinical trials, study abroad, education and training, and field research. 

In 2024, the University operated four offices outside of the United States: one in Europe, one in the Middle East and North Africa, and two in Sub-Saharan Africa. In total, Penn reported 444 employees, agents, and independent contractors working outside of the United States.

Europe, which under IRS designations also includes Iceland and Greenland, made up nearly half of Penn’s non-investment spending worldwide, totaling over $25 million. Though most of that went toward program services, the University also spent over $5.3 million to “send agents to seminar” and roughly $26,000 to “conduct board meetings.”

East Asia and the Pacific — a region spanning everywhere from China and Japan to Australia and New Zealand — drew the second-largest share of non-investment spending at just over $10 million, again led by program services. 

An overwhelming share of Penn’s overseas spending came in the form of investments. 

The University reported investments in just five out of 10 total regions: Central America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Despite not comprising a significant share of Penn’s non-investment spending, Central America and the Caribbean absorbed the vast majority of the University’s international investments, totaling more than $8 billion. Europe ranked a distant second, at roughly $1.7 billion. 

Outside of its latest tax reports, Penn has also built out a handful of hubs beyond its Philadelphia campus. 

Penn Washington, based in the nation’s capital, works to “create trust, collaboration, and effective partnership” between the University and federal, state, and local governments. 

The Wharton School also operates a West Coast outpost in San Francisco, which relocated to a standalone building last year. Since 2015, Penn has helped operate the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing, which provides “on-the-ground support for programs and collaborations between Penn’s 12 schools and many academic, government, and business partners throughout China.”

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