Research brief & institution hub

DeSales University

PAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #944 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 1, 2026

Overall, Azimuth ranks DeSales University #944 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

DeSales University is a private nonprofit university in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, where the degree mix is led by Health Professions and Business. Return is well above average.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from them.

The price case turns on income. After grants and scholarships, families in the lowest band pay well below the published cost, while those at the top pay closer to it.

Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate well below the overall cohort, and mobility is below the levels seen at many peers. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

A student drawn to the health professions should know that the largest program, Nursing, is not the highest-earning one.

DeSales University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 77.1%
Six-year completion^[2]: 72.2%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $74,078

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $26,096
Median student debt^[4]: $25,788
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $33,790

DeSales University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

DeSales University is a private nonprofit university in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, enrolling 2,128 undergraduates. Its composite standing in the Azimuth ranking sits in the lower half of the field among nonprofit four-year institutions (36th percentile).

The four are spread widely apart, with return as the strongest and affordability as the weakest. The university admits 77.1% of applicants, a rate that is above the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Of students who start full time, 83.0% return for a second year and 72.2% finish within six years. Peer medians for retention and completion are 83.4% and 68.8%, respectively.

An estimated 20.8% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students. The return pillar is the clear outlier, while access and mobility sit much lower (30th and 18th percentiles).

Affordability is the weakest of the four (11th percentile). The profile of DeSales University is that of a private university where the earnings picture is strong, but the composite sits far below the return pillar alone.

At DeSales University, return is the clearest pillar, whereas affordability is the weakest. Return sits at the 83rd percentile and access at the 30th percentile in Azimuth’s measures.

Mobility is at the 18th percentile; affordability is at the 11th percentile. The return signal is stronger than the school’s affordability standing.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,090 and 1,260, while the middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 27 and 28. 23.8% of undergraduates are Pell Grant recipients.

For access, Azimuth ranks DeSales University #1,021 among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 56.8%, falling below the overall rate (72.2%) by 15.4 percentage points.

Azimuth ranks DeSales University #1,203 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

DeSales University rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#944

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 18

Access & reach: National percentile: 30

Affordability: National percentile: 11

Return on investment: National percentile: 83

01 / DeSales University briefing

DeSales University cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

DeSales University has a substantial published charge, so the price remaining after aid is a central cost question. The published cost of attendance is $62,745, including $46,800 in tuition and fees and $13,800 for room and board.

For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $31,643, after average financial-aid savings of $31,102. That net price is $4,272 above the $27,371 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places its affordability pillar in the 11th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The higher-than-peer net price and low affordability standing point in the same direction.

At DeSales University, the published cost of attendance is $62,745, so the price remaining after aid varies considerably by family income. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $24,007 in the lowest family-income band, $25,400 in the lower-middle band, $26,096 in the middle band, $29,982 in the upper-middle band, and $34,878 in the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,871, a difference between band averages rather than a bill for any one family. Azimuth ranks the university #1,257 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 50% of the published cost, offsetting $31,102 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the is $31,643, alongside published tuition and fees of $46,800.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $27,371, leaving DeSales University’s average net price $4,272 above that figure. The aid offset is substantial, but the price after aid remains above the comparable-school median.

Federal borrowing is common here, with median federal student loan debt at completion of $25,788 among borrowers who completed. The peer median debt for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, making the university’s figure $1,589 above it.

95.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $33,790.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$26,096

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at DeSales University

Federal loans are part of the financing picture for 95.7% of federal aid recipients at DeSales University, so the debt figures apply to a large share of the undergraduate population. For borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt stands at $25,788.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199. DeSales' median is $1,589 above that reference point.

In the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $33,790.

Graduates of DeSales University earn a median of $74,078 four years after completion, a figure at the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is $5,828 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 63rd percentile. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $50,917 in a downside case to $101,550 in an upside case, with $74,078 as the typical outcome.

On the borrowing side, completers who took federal loans leave with a median debt of $25,788. That is $1,589 above the $24,199 peer median, and corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who use Parent PLUS loans face a separate borrowing picture: the median among parent borrowers is $33,790. For student borrowers, median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $25,788
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $33,790

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly: $293/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $429/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / DeSales University briefing

DeSales University career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

Return is the strongest pillar for DeSales University, at the 83rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $74,078, which is $5,828 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions.

Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 63rd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,517. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,250. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $766.

DeSales University posts a median of $74,078 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. The earnings cohort includes 640 completers, and Azimuth places the result in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, offer another lens. Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix place typical earnings at the observed median, with a downside scenario of $50,917 and an upside scenario of $101,550. An estimated 25.4% continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The observed median and higher-than-expected earnings point in the same direction.

DeSales University shows a relatively strong return picture: federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $74,078 four years after completion, in the 82nd percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with the university’s figure $5,828 above it.

Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 63rd percentile.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $766. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $50,917 on the downside to $101,550 on the upside.

Azimuth ranks the university #253 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison and model result point in the same direction.

Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences is the highest-earning listed field, with 35 degrees awarded and median earnings of $124,965 four years after completion. That figure is 1.83x of the national median for its field.

Their field benchmarks are 1.03x and 1.17x of their respective national medians, so the largest listed programs also show earnings above those field reference points.

Earnings vary widely across the modeled program-mix scenarios, from a downside scenario of $50,917 to an upside scenario of $101,550. These scenarios are modeled rather than observed graduate groups.

Among individual fields, median earnings four years after completion are $124,965 in Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, $91,887 in Nursing, and $79,595 in Business Administration and Management. The field-level figures help explain the breadth of the modeled range.

At DeSales University, above-expected graduate earnings sit alongside costs and borrowing that run higher than those at comparable schools. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $31,643, which is above the peer median by $4,272.

That peer median is the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size). Across family-income bands, average net price is $24,007 in the lowest band, $25,400 in the next band, $26,096 in the middle band, $29,982 in the next-highest band, and $34,878 in the highest band.

Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. For borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,788, above the peer median of $24,199 by $1,589.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years. Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students.

Above-expected earnings and above-peer costs and debt point in different directions.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$4,517
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: -$2,250
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: +$2,267

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / DeSales University briefing

DeSales University acceptance rate & admissions^[1]^[10]^[11]

An admission rate of 77.1% means DeSales University admitted most applicants in the reported pool. That outcome is above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size), indicating a broader admission outcome than the peer midpoint.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range

Admission rate: 77.1%

Approximate lower endpoint: 1090
Reported average: 1186
Approximate upper endpoint: 1260

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / DeSales University briefing

What are the largest majors at DeSales University?^[12]

At DeSales University, the highest program earnings sit in health-focused fields, while business and biology fall at more moderate levels four years after completion. Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences reports median earnings of $124,965 and 35 degrees awarded.

Nursing follows with median earnings of $91,887 across 110 degrees awarded. Among other large programs, Business Administration and Management posts median earnings of $79,595 with 63 degrees awarded, and Biology posts $76,125 with 40 degrees awarded.

The figures place the health-focused programs at the higher end of this group and the business and biology fields at a more moderate level.

Health Professions accounts for 26.7% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, giving the program mix a substantial health focus. Among the largest fields, Nursing awarded 110 degrees and had median earnings of $91,887 four years after completion; Business Administration and Management awarded 63 degrees and had median earnings of $79,595; Criminal Justice awarded 41 degrees and had median earnings of $64,020; Biology awarded 40 degrees and had median earnings of $76,125; and Marketing awarded 38 degrees and had median earnings of $72,203.

The largest fields span a wide earnings range, so the intended field matters in interpreting the school-level result.

The bachelor's degree mix at DeSales University is anchored in two professional families: Health Professions accounts for 26.7% of degrees awarded, and Business for 25.4%. Security & Protective Services is a distant third at 9.3%.

Across 14 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest by degrees awarded is Nursing at 110 degrees awarded, followed by Business Administration and Management at 63 and Criminal Justice at 41. The highest-earning program is Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, where graduates earn a median of $124,965 four years after completion, from 35 degrees awarded.

Nursing, the largest program, is the second-highest-earning at $91,887. Business Administration and Management follows at $79,595, and Biology is at $76,125 with a benchmark ratio of 1.33x against the national median for its field.

The pattern is a university where several of the largest programs also lead earnings, though the top-earning program is a smaller clinical field. Most degrees are in professional rather than STEM fields; 14.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, a smaller program, has a median roughly a third higher than Nursing.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 110 degrees awarded: $91,887
Business Administration, Management and Operations 63 degrees awarded: $79,595
Criminal Justice and Corrections 41 degrees awarded: $64,020
Biology, General 40 degrees awarded: $76,125
Marketing 38 degrees awarded: $72,203
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other 35 degrees awarded: $124,965

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / DeSales University briefing

How does DeSales University serve students from different backgrounds?

DeSales University presents a mixed mobility picture: completion is solid, while its Azimuth mobility standing is low. Among the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 72.2%; for Pell recipients, the six-year completion rate is 56.8%, below the overall rate by 15.4 percentage points.

Azimuth assigns the mobility pillar to the 18th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,267 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result is in the 63rd percentile. Higher-than-expected earnings contrast with the completion gap and lower mobility standing.

At DeSales University, a 77.1% admission rate points to a fairly open entry point, though Azimuth places its access pillar in the 30th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university enrolls 2,128 undergraduates; 23.8% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 20.8% enter as transfers or part-time students.

These measures describe several routes into a university with a lower national access standing.

06 / DeSales University briefing

What colleges are similar to DeSales University?^[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with DeSales University.

Admissions peerWidener University70.9% admitted

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	Widener University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$80,946+$6,868 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$25,759-$5,884 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	70.9%

Explore Widener University →

Higher-admission alternativeWilkes University90.6% admitted

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	Wilkes University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$69,197-$4,881 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$27,743-$3,900 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	90.6%

Nearby alternativeImmaculata UniversityNearby option · PA

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	Immaculata University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$72,836-$1,242 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$24,258-$7,385 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	85.8%

Higher-earnings alternativeThomas Jefferson University$87,195 earnings

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	Thomas Jefferson University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$87,195+$13,117 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$28,928-$2,715 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	81.0%

Explore Thomas Jefferson University →

Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Lehman College$3,148 average net price

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	CUNY Lehman College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$63,353-$10,725 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$3,148-$28,495 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	56.6%

Explore CUNY Lehman College →

Similar profileGettysburg CollegeMatched across several measures

Comparison with DeSales University
Measure	DeSales University	Gettysburg College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$74,078	$72,658-$1,420 vs DeSales University
Average annual net price	$31,643	$31,490-$153 vs DeSales University · lower cost
Admission rate	77.1%	38.9%

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 27, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 27, 2026

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Source fields: Azimuth rankings
College Azimuth · Ranking methodology
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations
College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios
College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Source fields: Azimuth statistical model
College Azimuth · Value-added methodology
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE
College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings