Speaking to a group at the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2016 Economic Conference on Jan. 14, Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli Jr. said his school's integration with Thomas Jefferson University will ultimately benefit students.
Spinelli said the merger was driven by the spirit of leveraging resources and collaborating that adds value to any operation. The schools signed a letter of intent on Dec. 17.
"Some of the things we are talking about that would benefit students include additional options to seamlessly combine undergraduate and graduate studies and complete degrees in a shorter amount of time," Spinelli said. “If we give them choices, we can give them value.”
More than 400 businesspeople, nonprofit representatives and government officials attended the panel, which also included the presidents of other Philadelphia school such as Drexel University and Villanova University.
Spinelli said the values of entrepreneurship reflected in the merger also provide their own lesson for students of any major.
"You can be entrepreneurial without starting a business, and bring value to whatever you do," he said.
Philadelphia University is a private university founded in 1884 that emphasizes interdisciplinary academic programs across 40 undergraduate and graduate degree tracks. Thomas Jefferson University is a private university focused on health science education for more than 3,600 students.
Alerts Sign-up