Empire Beauty School-Reading
For-profit College in Reading, PA. Median 10-year earnings $23,921.
Ten-year median earnings of $23,921 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,667.
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
The federal six-year graduation rate is not published here — typically because the entering cohort this measure follows is too small or too atypical to report. Treat completion as unknown rather than assuming either direction. 81% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention drops to 40% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. 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 127 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $17,237 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $16,520 at $0–30k against $22,955 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 65% get grants averaging $5,792, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 64% 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 · 47 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 | $16,520 |
| $30–48k | $17,446 |
| $48–75k | $20,012 |
| $75–110k | $23,013 |
| $110k+ | $22,955 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 81 of these 127 students, totalling $588,917 — an average of $7,271 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Berks 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)