Commonwealth University
of Pennsylvania
Public College in Bloomsburg, PA. Six-year graduation rate 56%. Median 10-year earnings $52,416.
Students who entered Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania land at a median of $52,416 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 56%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $26,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 93% of applicants are accepted. 8,891 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield sits at 29% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 30% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 500–600 | 713 (30%) |
| SAT Math | 490–590 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania →Academics
56% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 78% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in five are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Transfer-out runs to 24% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 37% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,311 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,111 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $11,374 at $0–30k versus $20,099 at $110k+. About 81% get grants averaging $8,089, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Most students borrow — 58% take federal loans to cover the gap.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,422 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $11,374 |
| $30–48k | $11,370 |
| $48–75k | $13,877 |
| $75–110k | $17,989 |
| $110k+ | $20,099 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 5,374 of these 9,311 students, totalling $32,711,578 — an average of $6,087 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Columbia County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)