DeSales University
Center Valley, Pennsylvania is home to DeSales University (DSU), a private Catholic institution of higher education. At the undergraduate and graduate levels, the institution provides students with the opportunity to enrol in conventional, online, and hybrid classes and programmes. The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales established the institution in 1964 and gave it the name "Allentown College of Saint Francis de Sales." The university was later renamed after its patron saint.
Business, Healthcare Professions, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Nursing, Performing Arts, and Sciences & Mathematics are the different academic departments that can be found at DeSales University. It belongs to a category of universities known as "Doctoral/Professional Universities."
The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales were asked by Bishop Joseph McShea of the Allentown Diocese to begin planning for a new college in April 1962. On May 27, 1964, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted the charter for Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales, which gave the institution the authority to grant Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. In September of 1965, first-year students were allowed to register for classes. During the 1969–1970 school year, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools granted full accreditation to Allentown College. This meant that Allentown College met all of the requirements for accreditation. It wasn't until September 1970 that the college opened its doors to students of both sexes. The continuing education division of the institution was first created in the autumn of 1977 and was given the acronym ACCESS. The ACCESS evening degree programme was expanded in the spring of 1988 when the college launched the Easton campus as an expansion of the programme.
The number of classes available at the institution kept increasing. In 1984, a Master of Science in Nursing degree was made available, in September 1988, a Master of Science in Management Information Systems degree was made available, and in the summer of 1989, an M.Ed. programme was made available. The institution launched its Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme in August 1991; since then, it has become the second biggest MBA school in the state of Pennsylvania. In the autumn of 1998, the college pioneered the introduction of a major in marriage and family studies, being the first Catholic institution of higher education in the nation to do so.