Pennsylvania State
University-Penn State Brandywine
Public College in Media, PA. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $63,435.
A decade after enrolling, the median Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine student earns $63,435 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Only 26% finish within six years, so roughly three in four 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 26% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 98%, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 2,431, typical for a school of this reach. Only 17% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 29% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 550–650 | 115 (29%) |
| SAT Math | 530–660 | |
| ACT Composite | — | 4 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 26% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 73% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 29% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,218 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $22,710 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $15,904 at $0–30k versus $29,031 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 67% of students at an average of $9,810. 49% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 436 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 | $15,904 |
| $30–48k | $16,580 |
| $48–75k | $21,157 |
| $75–110k | $25,067 |
| $110k+ | $29,031 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 600 of these 1,218 students, totalling $3,513,423 — an average of $5,856 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Delaware 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)