West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCUPA) is a public university located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles (40 km) miles west of Philadelphia. It is one of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). West Chester was ranked 69th in the Master's Universities (North) category by U.S. News & World Report for 2009. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS). The university traces its roots to the private, state-aided school that existed from 1812 to 1869. As the state began to take increasing responsibility for public education, the academy was transformed into West Chester Normal School, still privately owned and state certified. The normal school admitted its first class, consisting of 160 students, on September 25, 1871. In 1913, West Chester became the first of the normal schools to be owned outright by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. West Chester became West Chester State Teachers College in 1927 when Pennsylvania initiated a four-year program of teacher education.