Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona operates as a public institution located in Altoona, Pennsylvania (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 2,367 students of which 2,573 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona is categorized as “-2” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 98.1%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,187. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $22,213, with published in-state tuition of $15,972 and a Pell grant recipient share of 29.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 17.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 79.5%. Graduates earn a median of $63,435 ten years after enrolling, compared with $55,620 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 3192600.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 73.1% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.