Pennsylvania State
University-Penn State Abington
Public College in Abington, PA. Six-year graduation rate 20%. Median 10-year earnings $63,435.
Ten-year median earnings of $63,435 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Only 20% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $25,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
- ! Graduation rate 20% — below national average
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 97% of applicants are accepted. 6,620 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 11% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 25% 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 | 540–635 | 176 (25%) |
| SAT Math | 530–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–27 | 14 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 20% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 77% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 39% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,074 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $19,232 annually once grants are applied. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $13,629 at the $0–30k band to $25,785 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 71% of students at an average of $10,167. Federal borrowing reaches 47% of students.
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 · 903 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 | $13,629 |
| $30–48k | $13,597 |
| $48–75k | $16,296 |
| $75–110k | $22,249 |
| $110k+ | $25,785 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,437 of these 3,074 students, totalling $8,804,526 — an average of $6,127 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Montgomery 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)