Quaker College Fair

Typically scheduled for late February or early March, the Quaker College Fair takes place at Arch Street Meeting House (4th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, PA). The Fair is intended to help high school aged students, young adults, and their families learn about opportunities for Quaker postsecondary education in a personal setting. Online registration for the 2013 Fair will open next winter.

“Where will I most thrive, and how can I connect to that place?”  

 The Quaker College Fair is uniquely centered on values-based higher education and its life-long benefits.

The Quaker College Fair gives all students an opportunity to become familiar with the benefits of higher education in a Quaker context. It also helps families understand the college process, learn about financial aid options, and get a sense of what the college search can be like from the perspective of students who’ve experienced it.

Held annually, the Fair begins at noon with an interactive panel where students engage with  panelists from a range of backgrounds. After the panel, students mingle with admissions representatives from local and distant Quaker institutions, and connect with recent college graduates to discuss the college discernment process and student on-campus life. 2012 panelists were: 

• Doug Bennett—President Emeritus of Earlham College
• Dan Evans—Director of College Counseling at The William Penn Charter School
• Emily Temple— Graduate of Haverford College (class of 2011) and Westtown School 
• Sarah Willie-LeBreton—Swarthmore College, Professor of Sociology & Anthropology, and graduate of Haverford College 

Participating Colleges include: Barclay College, Bryn Mawr College, Earlham College, Earlham School of Religion, Friends University, George Fox University, Global College of Long Island University, Guilford College, Haverford College, Malone University, Pendle Hill, Swarthmore College, Wilmington College, William Penn University, and Whittier College. 

The Quaker College Fair is free and parking is available. Walk-ins are welcome, but registration insures that students are kept informed and parking can be planned for. To be placed on a list for regular electronic updates on the Fair please contact Grace Sharples Cooke by email at GCooke@pym.org or by phone 215-241-7224.  

The Fair is jointly organized by the Friends Association for Higher Education (FAHE) and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM). It is supported by the Post-Secondary Education Working Group at PYM. 

 For more information about Quaker institutions of higher learning visit www.earlham.edu/~fahe