The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation. Wharton currently has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students and more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs. It has been ranked as one of the nation's top business schools by several publications including U.S. News & World Report, which lists it as number one in the country. Also in Philadelphia is La Salle University, which has instituted an Executive on Campus Program, which brings nearly 100 corporate executives to campus to speak about career paths, industry highlights, and current business trends. Business programs are offered at several other private universities: Philadelphia University, Drexel University, Saint Joseph's University, and Villanova University, and public institutions include Temple University, Community College of Philadelphia, and West Chester University.

Philadelphia has several key industries making up its economy, including life/bioscience, chemistry, IT and communications, and financial services. The financial sector has been and continues to be one of the city's strongest, with companies like Cigna, MBNA, and Sovereign Bancorp located in the area. In 2004, more than 219,000 people in greater Philadelphia were employed in financial services, according to Select Greater Philadelphia Currently, the concentration of financial service firms in the region is almost 50 percent greater than in the nation as a whole.

• University of Phoenix
  Accounting, Business Administration, Global Management, Criminal Justice Administration, e-Business, Finance, Health Care Management, Human Resource Management, Information Systems, Management, Marketing, MBA Program, Project Management, Public Administration, Technology Management
• DeVry University
  Accounting Technology, Business Administration
• Keller Graduate School of Management
  Business Administration, Accounting and Financial Management, Educational Management, Electronic Commerce Management, Entrepreneurship, Financial Analysis, Health Services Management, Human Resource Management, Information Security, Information Systems Management, MBA Program, Network and Communications Management, Project Management, Public Administration, Wireless Communications
• Lansdale School of Business
  Accounting/Management, Marketing/Management, Office Operations Management
• Lehigh Valley College
  Accounting, Business Administration, Fashion Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Management/Marketing
• Drexel University, Lebow College of Business | (215) 895-2400
  Business Administration, Commerce and Engineering, Economics, MBA Programs
  
• Holy Family University, School of Business Administration | (215) 637-7700 ext. 3336
  Accounting,  Business Administration/Mgmt.,  Economics,  Human Resource Mgmt.,  Information Systems,  International Business,  Marketing,  Sports Admin. and Management
  
• Philadelphia University, School of Business Administration | (215) 951-2827
  Business Administration/Mgmt.
  
• Saint Joseph's University, Haub School of Business | (610) 660-1645 or (888) BE-A-HAWK  
  Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, MBA Program<
• University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School | (215) 898-7507  
  Accounting, Actuarial Science, Banking, Business Administration/Mgmt., Corporate and Business Communications, Entrepreneurial Studies, Finance, Information Systems, Insurance, International Business, Management Science, Marketing, Merchandising/Retail, Operations, Organizational Behavior, Real Estate