Pennsylvania State
University-Penn State York
Public College in York, PA. Six-year graduation rate 15%. Median 10-year earnings $63,435.
Students who entered Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York reach a median of $63,435 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Only 16% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. 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
- ! Graduation rate 15% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 97%, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York takes nearly everyone who applies. 1,933 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 11%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 24% 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 | 530–620 | 48 (24%) |
| SAT Math | 520–625 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–28 | 6 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 16% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 77% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. 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. 50% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. At 14:1, 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 668 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $18,887 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $11,582 while those at $110k+ pay $24,411. Grant aid reaches 75% of students at an average of $8,894. 51% 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 · 181 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 | $11,582 |
| $30–48k | $11,156 |
| $48–75k | $16,261 |
| $75–110k | $20,054 |
| $110k+ | $24,411 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 342 of these 668 students, totalling $2,092,558 — an average of $6,119 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (York 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)