While current health care reform efforts seem distant - with most discussions based in Washington, D.C. - Wharton, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing are playing a significant role.

Penn students are continuing to go abroad in large numbers, despite trends to the contrary among many American universities. About 23 percent of Penn's junior class goes abroad.

George Smith, who graduated from the University in 1955, was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics Tuesday. He received the award with two fellow researchers.

Since its inception in 1964, the Test of English as a Foreign Language has effectively dominated the English proficiency exam market. However, it may come to face steep competition.

Recent research suggests that the United States’ low life expectancy, when compared to that of other developed nations, is not due to problems in the medical system but to the high rates of smoking in the past.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s new Market and Social Systems Engineering program will integrate systems engineering with the study of social sciences such as economics and finance.

Almost one-quarter of the student body at Penn is pursuing a business or economics major.

Penn Law’s Center on Professionalism has introduced new programming this fall aimed at assisting first-year students in cultivating professional skills outside the classroom.

Penn researchers study gun possession, emotional contagion and balloon-borne telescopes.

Seven years ago, Marilyn Sommers wondered whether current forensic exams could actually determine whether a woman had consented to sex.

To address the rapidly growing demand for geriatric social services, the School of Social Policy and Practice has developed a new concentration aimed at equipping students with the skills essential to providing care to older adults.

Introduction to Geology, Astronomy 001: A Survey of the Universe, Ideas in Mathematics — the courses many a Penn student plans to take eventually in order to knock off a requirement or two.

It took a severe physical beating to convert writer Pete Dexter from newspaper reporting to fiction writing, but he seems to have found his niche.

Carlos Ghosn wants students to take the path less traveled.

The newly hired undergraduate chairman of Religious Studies is an authority on South Asian religion and history, with an emphasis on Buddhism.

A number of classes at Penn incorporate class trips into their curricula. Funded by a combination of endowments, grants and gifts, professors have said these trips will continue unaffected by recent budget cuts.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has introduced a new, revamped Computer Engineering program this semester.