West Chester University of Pennsylvania is a public institution that was founded in 1871. WCU is the largest of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the sixth largest university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". Its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 409 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar.