Pennsylvania Western University
Public College in California, PA. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $47,295.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $47,295 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 52%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $23,725, 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 94% of applicants are accepted. 5,930 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield sits at 27% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 21% 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 | 480–580 | 316 (21%) |
| SAT Math | 460–560 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–25 | 40 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Pennsylvania Western University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 52%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 72% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 21% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 37% return, against 72% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,134 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $18,094 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $13,944 while those at $110k+ pay $23,272. About 80% get grants averaging $8,731, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 61% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 1,527 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 | $13,944 |
| $30–48k | $14,171 |
| $48–75k | $16,517 |
| $75–110k | $20,633 |
| $110k+ | $23,272 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,982 of these 8,134 students, totalling $30,748,608 — an average of $6,172 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Washington County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026