Shippensburg University
of Pennsylvania
Public College in Shippensburg, PA. Six-year graduation rate 56%. Median 10-year earnings $56,351.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $56,351 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 56%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. 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
With an acceptance rate of 87%, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania takes nearly everyone who applies. 7,224 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 18%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 1% of enrolled first-years who submitted an ACT 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 16–28 | 7 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania →Academics
56% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 22% 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. At 18:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,179 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $23,772 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $18,709 at $0–30k versus $28,387 at $110k+. About 84% get grants averaging $8,168, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 62% 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 · 1,091 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 | $18,709 |
| $30–48k | $18,515 |
| $48–75k | $21,386 |
| $75–110k | $25,469 |
| $110k+ | $28,387 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,571 of these 4,179 students, totalling $15,893,930 — an average of $6,182 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cumberland 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)