Pennsylvania Academy
of the Fine Arts
Private College in Philadelphia, PA. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $29,881.
Students who entered Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts reach a median of $29,881 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 58%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,309, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.75 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
58% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention is weak: only 0% of full-time first-years return, so roughly nine in ten leave after one year. 42% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. At 2:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 99 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $33,323 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Income makes less difference than usual: $39,928 at $0–30k, $46,702 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $24,541. Most students borrow — 65% 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 · 18 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 | $39,928 |
| $30–48k | $42,301 |
| $48–75k | $42,893 |
| $75–110k | $44,893 |
| $110k+ | $46,702 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 64 of these 99 students, totalling $431,251 — an average of $6,738 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Philadelphia County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026