Pennsylvania College
of Art and Design
Private College in Lancaster, PA. Six-year graduation rate 69%. Median 10-year earnings $33,301.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $33,301, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 69% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
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 0.81 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 99%, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool is small at 397, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. About 33% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
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
Apply at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design →Academics
A 69% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 309 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $28,826 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $24,547 while those at $110k+ pay $37,851. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $13,485 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 72% 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 · 94 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 | $24,547 |
| $30–48k | $24,115 |
| $48–75k | $26,576 |
| $75–110k | $30,876 |
| $110k+ | $37,851 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 224 of these 309 students, totalling $1,528,083 — an average of $6,822 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
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Statement Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)