As of fall 2025, SRU's total enrollment was 8,625, including 7,088 undergraduates and 1,537 graduate students.[2] There were also more than 946 employees, including 386 full-time faculty and a 21:1 student-to-faculty ratio.[6]
History
Slippery Rock University was founded in 1889 under the name "Slippery Rock State Normal School" as a teacher training school. James E. Morrow was the first president. The school was purchased by the Commonwealth in 1926 and became a four-year college.
"Slippery Rock State College" was established in 1960 and issued undergraduate and graduate degrees within the liberal arts and other professions.[7] From 1960 to 1971, enrollment rose from 1,314 to 6,020 students, before eclipsing 7,000 in 1988 and 8,000 in 2005.[8]
"Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania" became the school's current and formal name on July 1, 1983, when Act 188 went into effect to establish Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, and converted 12 state-owned colleges into universities.[9]
In November of 2025, the university’s College of Business was renamed The Haverlack College of Business after Elliott Haverlack, a graduate of the class of 1980.[10] This came after a historic $5 million gift from Haverlack to the university.
SRU offers more than 150 undergraduate majors and 40 graduate degree programs and certificates across the following five colleges:[13]
Haverlack College of Business
College of Education
College of Engineering and Science
College of Health Professions
College of Liberal Arts
SRU offers 51 programs that hold national accreditations and 92% of faculty members holding a Ph.D. or other terminal degree.[14]
SRU was ranked by U.S. News & World Report on its list of "Best Regional Universities - North" and "Top Public Schools – Regional Universities (North)."[15] SRU has earned a spot on the U.S. News' Best Regional Universities 17 straight years. The Princeton Review also recognized SRU on its "Best Mid-Atlantic" list.[16]
Administration
Karen Riley took office in 2023.[17] William J. Behre served from 2018 to 2022.[18] Cheryl Joy Norton, the university's first female president, was in office from 2012 to 2017.[19][20][21] The university’s first president, then known as the principal, was James E. Morrow who served from 1889-1890[22].
SRU is governed by a 20-member Board of Governors, a 12-member Council of Trustees, and the president with their cabinet providing advice and counsel on matters of policy, procedure, and strategic planning.[23]
In December 2025, the university announced that women's flag football and wrestling will begin competing as varsity sports for the start of the 2027-28 academic year.[25] Wrestling was reinstated after the program was discontinued in 2006.[26]
The announcement of Slippery Rock's football scores is a tradition at Michigan football games, started in 1959 by Michigan Stadium's public address announcer Steve Filipiak.[27] The tradition spread to other stadiums as well—during a 1970 game at the University of Texas, the announcer failed to read Slippery Rock’s score, which resulted in the crowd demanding to know said score.[28]
Club sports
In 1995, the women's water polo team won the intercollegiate national championship conducted by USA Water Polo.[29]
In 1987, the women's judo team, a varsity sport team at the time, won the intercollegiate national championship conducted by the National Collegiate Judo Association.[30]
Slippery Rock ice hockey joined other colleges and universities in the region to form the College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA) in 2006. In 2020, the university suspended the hockey program, before returning in 2025.[31]
Slippery Rock men's rugby won the 2024 7s rugby National Championship at the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Washington, D.C. on April 27, 2024.
Student life
Clubs and organizations
SRU offers 160 clubs and organizations for its student body, featuring on-and-off campus outings and events and allowing students to make connections with one another through shared interests and experiences.[32]
Aebersold Student Recreation Center
The Aebersold Student Recreation Center is an 82,000-square-foot (7,600m2) on-campus student recreation center.[33]
Student media
SRU has a student newspaper called The Rocket, the radio station 88.1 WSRU-FM, and the literary magazine SLAB.
