Pennsylvania State
University-Penn State Beaver
Public College in Monaca, PA. Six-year graduation rate 22%. Median 10-year earnings $63,435.
Ten-year median earnings of $63,435 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. The six-year graduation rate is 22% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. 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 22% — below national average
Admissions
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver admits 96% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 1,703, typical for a school of this reach. Only 10% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 22% 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 | 530–630 | 34 (22%) |
| SAT Math | 550–660 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–27 | 6 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 22% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 76% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. With 35% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. At 12:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 491 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $18,581 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,228 while those at $110k+ pay $22,285. Grant aid reaches 80% of students at an average of $9,834. 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 · 165 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 | $9,228 |
| $30–48k | $8,366 |
| $48–75k | $15,831 |
| $75–110k | $17,143 |
| $110k+ | $22,285 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 276 of these 491 students, totalling $1,670,346 — an average of $6,052 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Beaver 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)