University of Scranton Paper Format & Writing Requirements

University of Scranton at a glance

A Jesuit university in the heart of Scranton, Pennsylvania, known for strong physical therapy, occupational therapy and nursing pipelines, an AACSB-accredited business school, and Royals athletics in the Landmark Conference.

The campus sits in Scranton, Pennsylvania, operates as a private (jesuit) institution, and enrolls about 5,000 students — a scale that directly shapes how writing support works. Founded in 1888 with an acceptance rate around 82%, University of Scranton pairs selective admissions with the large-course writing loads typical of its category.

Citation styles University of Scranton actually requires

University of Scranton courses predominantly require MLA 9 or APA 7 or Chicago. That is not a trivial preference: it decides your title page, heading levels, in-text punctuation and reference format on every graded document.

• MLA 9: used across humanities and writing-sequence courses
• APA 7: used across social science, nursing and business courses
• Chicago: used across history, fine arts and some social science seminars

Verify against the specific course syllabus anyway — instructors can override departmental defaults, and the first paper is where they enforce it.

The writing requirement, decoded

A first-year writing seminar anchors the general education core, and health-science and business majors layer case analyses, lab reports and evidence-based papers on top; the Writing Center tutors in person and online.

Plan the sequence early: composition requirements compound, and students who defer them discover the advanced seminars — where the writing-intensity lives — conflict with major courses later. The registrar's degree audit shows exactly which flags remain; check it each semester.

Three things about University of Scranton papers that surprise new students

• Founded in 1888 as St. Thomas College by Bishop William O'Hara, the first bishop of Scranton, the school took its university name in 1938 and came under Jesuit governance in 1942.
• Teams compete as the Royals in the Landmark Conference, rallied by mascot Iggy the Royal Wolf, one of the more unusual mascots in Division III athletics.
• The campus climbs the Hill Section of a former anthracite coal capital, with Steamtown National Historic Site and the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour just down the hill from the quads.

None of these appear in the course description. All of them appear in the rubric. Students who learn them in week one report smoother first-semesters than students who meet them at the deadline.

Assignments University of Scranton students face most

• Essay — most frequently assigned across University of Scranton's programs
• Research Paper — most frequently assigned across University of Scranton's programs
• Case Study — most frequently assigned across University of Scranton's programs
• Literature Review — most frequently assigned across University of Scranton's programs

Popular programs at University of Scranton include nursing, occupational therapy, business administration — each pairs the assignment list above with its own capstone or practicum expectations, detailed on our subject pages.