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Parents and Family

  • The Road to Becoming a Student

    The typical college career is a mixture of starts and stops, detours and fast lanes, adds and drops. You might enroll at Gannon with a goal in mind. You may possibly change your major. You’ll most probably change the course of your life. College life is like that; you really never know what to expect.  However, we will be with you every step of the way.

    Gannon is more than just a university. We are also a community. Out grounding in faith demands as much. But that’s only the beginning. With our dedicated faculty, challenging academic programs and more than 75 clubs and organizations on campus, we'll provide the support and opportunities you need to thrive in and out of the classroom—no matter how you choose to get there.

    For your convenience, use these links for quick access to important information on how to:

    Parenting a College Student

    So, you have a new student at Gannon in the family. Congratulations and welcome to the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes frustrating, always exciting world of being the parent of a college student!

    As you know, when your child goes off to college, you go, too; the experience changes all members of the family. But this is also one of the greatest and certainly most formative experiences of your child’s life, and we’re here to make it as meaningful as we can for everyone involved.

    It could hardly be otherwise.

    Gannon University’s Mission as a Catholic, Diocesan, student-centered University “provides for the holistic development of undergraduate and graduate students in the Judeo-Christian tradition.” Implicit in this tradition is a nurturance of the whole student: intellectually, physically and spiritually.

    We are deeply committed to the success of all our students—not merely as students, but as citizens and servants, too. We are guides and partners in the search for meaning that is at the core of the value-centered education in both liberal arts and professional specializations that the University is dedicated to maintain.

    Your new Gannon student is now a part of a community, a community of learning, inquiry and discovery. And so are you.

    Welcome.

    The GU Experience

    When we say “Believe in the possibilities,” we have so many in mind: an outstanding collegiate experience, a life guided by faith and values, a career you’re passionate about, a search for meaning and truth that will transform you and the way you look at the world.

    Your classes will be small, so you will have opportunities to get to know your classmates and professors in an intensive, compelling learning experience.

    In many cases, you will have professors who are deeply connected to the working world—the world you may seek to enter—and they can bring real-life examples and coursework to your studies. Depending on your major, your classroom experience may be enriched by internships, job shadowing, practicums or fieldwork.

    Gannon's signature programs, Core of Discovery and Lifecore give you a foundation for experiencing both the academic and co-curricular experiences of your education, helping you to make sense of humanity, social concepts and structures, and your own ethics and values. Lifecore challenges your growth and development through participation in events and activities that encompass nine lifestyle dimensions.

    On your journey, you will discover what you love to do and learn professional skills. But you will also feel the warmth and friendliness of our campus community. You will make friends you will have for a lifetime. How many of our students met their life’s partners here? We don’t know for sure, but it’s certainly in the hundreds, perhaps thousands.

    As a Catholic, diocesan university, Gannon is above all a community, a community that will deepen your faith and enrich your life.

    And that’s something you can believe in.

    How to Navigate the World of Financial Aid

    There’s no getting around it: paying for college is difficult. Of course, it’s also worth it, so we want to make the process as easy and painless to navigate as possible.