Misericordia University is a four-year, Catholic, co-educational liberal arts university located on a 100-acre (0.40 km) campus in Dallas, Pennsylvania, near the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. It was founded by the Religious Sisters of Mercy on August 15, 1924. The university offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees as well as post-master's and post-bachelor's certificates. On August 24, 2007 Misericordia achieved university status. It was called College Misericordia prior to August 24, 2007. The Religious Sisters of Mercy were of the order of Mercy founded in Dublin in 1831. The Sisters vowed to be of service to the impoverished, sick and uneducated. The Sisters of Mercy came to the Wyoming Valley area of Pennsylvania in 1875, continuing their mission of praying, teaching and caring for the sick. The sisters established a school for children and a night school for adults in the coal mining region. On August 15, 1924, the Sisters of Mercy established Luzerne County’s first four-year institution of higher learning, Misericordia, on nearly 100 acres (0.40 km) of land in Dallas, Pennsylvania, purchased by the Sisters for this purpose in 1914.