Elizabethtown College
Private College in Elizabethtown, PA. Six-year graduation rate 76%. Median 10-year earnings $62,399.
Ten-year median earnings of $62,399 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 76% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 76% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 78% puts Elizabethtown College on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 3,624 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 18%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 30% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 560–660 | 147 (30%) |
| SAT Math | 545–650 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 7 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Elizabethtown College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 76% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 84%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. The undergraduate body is just 1,857, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,815 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $27,760 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,776 at $0–30k versus $31,198 at $110k+. 98% of students get grant aid averaging $22,913, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 67% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 523 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 | $17,776 |
| $30–48k | $17,113 |
| $48–75k | $20,967 |
| $75–110k | $25,064 |
| $110k+ | $31,198 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,209 of these 1,815 students, totalling $8,059,025 — an average of $6,666 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lancaster 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)