Empire Beauty
School-Lehigh Valley
For-profit College in Whitehall, PA. Median 10-year earnings $25,073.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $25,073, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Median debt at graduation is $13,000, a light load against those earnings.
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
Academics
No six-year graduation rate is reported for this institution, which is common for schools whose students are mostly part-time, transfer in, or enroll in short programs that the federal cohort measure does not track. Its absence is not itself a bad sign, but it does remove the clearest completion signal. First-year retention is 63% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The part-time picture is harder: 39% return, against 63% full-time. A 20:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. This is a for-profit short-program school. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 201 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $17,488 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $16,713 at $0–30k, $22,928 at $110k+. About 63% get grants averaging $5,291, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 56% take federal loans.
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 · 69 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 | $16,713 |
| $30–48k | $18,424 |
| $48–75k | $17,049 |
| $75–110k | $22,428 |
| $110k+ | $22,928 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 112 of these 201 students, totalling $854,900 — an average of $7,633 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lehigh County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026