10-yr median earnings
$33,301
Federal aid recipients only
Private Nonprofit · Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is a private nonprofit institution in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. as a private nonprofit, published Scorecard outcomes cover federal-aid recipients at this campus — endowment and sticker price sit outside those cohort fields.
- $33,301
- 10-yr median earnings
- 99.2%
- Acceptance rate
- $30,083
- Avg net price / yr
- 65.8%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design pairs modest former-student earnings with open admission.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- 28th pct.
- former-student earnings, US
- 99.2%
- acceptance rate
- 65.8%
- 150%-time completion
- +41%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Small
Carnegie: Special Focus (4yr)
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Pennsylvania College of Art and Design profile
Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Special Focus Four-Year: Arts, Music & Design Schools"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.
Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.
College Value Score
F
College Value Score
37/100
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings F
$33,301
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price F
$30,083
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate C+
65.8%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt F
$27,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment C+
66.2%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention B+
85.1%
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$30,083
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
65.8%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 65.8%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Pennsylvania College of Art and Design vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.
How Pennsylvania College of Art and Design ranks nationally
Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$33,301 28th percentile higher than 28% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals
| Metric | Pennsylvania College of Art and Design | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $33,301 | #3664 of 5103 | 28th |
| Average net price | $30,083 | #4486 of 5020 | 11th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 65.8% | #1751 of 4858 | 64th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 400 | #3041 of 5462 | 44th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
400
Undergraduate enrollment
99.2%
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
65.8%
150%-time completion
$33,301
10-yr median earnings
85.1%
First-year retention
How Pennsylvania College of Art and Design ranks in Pennsylvania
State rank among 270 reporting Pennsylvania colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Pennsylvania College of Art and Design | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $33,301 | #218 of 270 | 19th |
| Average net price | $30,083 | #234 of 264 | 11th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 65.8% | #122 of 259 | 53rd |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 400 | #147 of 282 | 48th |
Highest former-student earnings in Pennsylvania
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine | $138,767 | - |
| 2 | Carnegie Mellon University | $114,862 | $31,944 |
| 3 | University of Pennsylvania | $111,371 | $28,699 |
| 4 | Lehigh University | $105,584 | $36,931 |
| 5 | Villanova University | $100,423 | $43,756 |
| 6 | Bucknell University | $93,807 | $40,766 |
| 7 | Lafayette College | $91,410 | $34,433 |
| 8 | Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia | $86,881 | $29,689 |
| 9 | Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster | $86,881 | $42,478 |
| 10 | Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing | $86,138 | - |
| 11 | Drexel University | $84,648 | $38,509 |
| 12 | Swarthmore College | $80,257 | $23,149 |
| 218 | Pennsylvania College of Art and DesignThis school | $33,301 | $30,083 |
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 99.2% |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$24,547 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$24,115 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$26,576 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$37,851 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $32,150 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $32,150 |
| Average Net Price | $30,083 |
47.4%
Pell Grant Rate
69.3%
Federal Loan Rate
$27,000
Median Debt
$286/mo
Monthly Payment
2013–2023: what Pennsylvania College of Art and Design costs has stayed close to flat
Average net price moved +20.4% over 10 years, from $24,304 to $29,266 in nominal dollars. The median college measured over the same span moved +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $24,3042023 · $29,266
Over the same years, enrollment went +40.5% (222 → 312 students).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
68.5%
Female
Outcomes
85.1%
Retention Rate
$23,638
Median Earnings (6yr)
37.5%
Earning Over $25K
66.2%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 65.8% |
| First-year retention | First-time, full-time freshmen | 85.1% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $23,638 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $33,301 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 37.5% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 66.2% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $27,000 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $286/mo |
Programs & Earnings
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and Applied Arts | Bachelor's | 30 | $38,275 | $27,000 |
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Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Independent Scorecard matches among reporting colleges — not recommendations from the institution or a counselor.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Private Nonprofit institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Private Nonprofit institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design? ▼
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is a private nonprofit institution in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The acceptance rate is 99.2%. Undergraduate enrollment is 400 students.
How much do Pennsylvania College of Art and Design former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $33,301 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $23,638.
How much does Pennsylvania College of Art and Design cost? ▼
The average net price at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is $30,083. In-state tuition is $32,150 and out-of-state tuition is $32,150. Median student debt at graduation is $27,000.
What is the graduation rate at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design? ▼
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design has a 65.8% completion rate within 150% of normal time at a four-year institution (typically six years for a bachelor’s program). The first-year retention rate is 85.1%.
Is Pennsylvania College of Art and Design worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is $27,000, while former students earn a median of $33,301 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 81% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 66.2% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $286.
Sources & methodology
Private-nonprofit profiles emphasize Scorecard cost-after-aid and completion alongside IPEDS Carnegie class. Endowment, gifts, and sticker price are not Scorecard fields on this page.
Figures are the Mar–Jul 2026 federal retrievals. Nonprofit campuses vary widely in aid practice — net price here is the Title-IV-recipient cohort average, not an individual award letter. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
Where to go next from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
- Compare Pennsylvania College of Art and Design against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in Pennsylvania side by side.Browse Pennsylvania
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
Nonprofit Scorecard medians describe federal-aid recipients who were working and not enrolled — they are not sticker-price ROI and not advice.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Private-nonprofit profiles compile Scorecard net-price and earnings cohorts with IPEDS structure fields — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.