Pennsylvania State
University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College
Public College in Erie, PA. Six-year graduation rate 44%. Median 10-year earnings $63,435.
A decade after enrolling, the median Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College student earns $63,435 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 44% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 97% of applicants are accepted. The applicant pool runs to 6,378, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 15%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 31% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 560–650 | 281 (31%) |
| SAT Math | 560–660 | |
| ACT Composite | 25–31 | 34 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
Completion is middling: 44% finish inside six years. Retention is strong at 83%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. 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. 24% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,172 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $23,764 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $16,092 at the $0–30k band to $29,692 at $110k+. About 74% get grants averaging $11,380, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 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 · 855 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 | $16,092 |
| $30–48k | $17,884 |
| $48–75k | $20,539 |
| $75–110k | $26,914 |
| $110k+ | $29,692 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,787 of these 3,172 students, totalling $11,117,448 — an average of $6,221 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Erie 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)