College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

PAMedium public institution · Overall rank #568 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth’s composite profile centers on Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Who it’s a good fit for

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana, Pennsylvania, with a degree mix led by Business, Social Sciences, and Health Professions. Its strongest is mobility, which is well above average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes the gap to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts, while the factors it measures adds to expected earnings.

Return is modestly below average, the weakest of the four pillars. The price picture is mixed: what the lowest-income band pays on average sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete at a rate below that of the overall cohort, and access is above average. The admission rate is above the median for comparable public universities, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the highest-earning fields are not the ones that award the most degrees.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
90.8%
Six-year completion[2]
55.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$57,450

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$14,516
Median student debt[4]
$26,798
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$26,073

Indiana University of Pennsylvania rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

6,764 undergraduates enroll at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a public university in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Its overall standing lands just above the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (the 61st percentile).

90.8% of applicants are accepted, compared with a peer median of 85.9% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among first-time full-time students, 75.3% continue past the first year, against a peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 55.5%, against a peer median of 49.1%. An estimated 15.9% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the student body includes students who began elsewhere.

At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, mobility is the strongest pillar (the 81st percentile) and return is the weakest (the 34th percentile). Access and affordability sit between them (the 67th and 53rd percentiles).

The four pillars sit far apart, with mobility and return at opposite ends of the range.

Mobility gives Indiana University of Pennsylvania its clearest showing, at the 81st percentile among nonprofit institutions. Access stands at the 67th percentile.

Affordability sits at the 53rd percentile, and return is the weakest pillar at the 34th percentile. The profile is led by mobility, with return trailing the university’s other pillar results.

Among enrolled students who submitted test scores, the middle half of SAT results ran from 970 to 1,180, while the middle half of ACT results ran from 20 to 27. 36.8% of undergraduates hold Pell Grants, the marker used for financial access.

Azimuth ranks Indiana University of Pennsylvania #488 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That access profile combines a broad Pell population with completion outcomes: those students finish at 43.9%, a rate that trails the overall six-year graduation figure by 11.6 percentage points.

Azimuth ranks the university #278 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the mobility pillar at this university.

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

Indiana University of Pennsylvania rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#568

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 81
Access & reach
National percentile: 67
Affordability
National percentile: 53
Return on investment
National percentile: 34

01 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

Indiana University of Pennsylvania cost & financial aid[6][7]

Indiana University of Pennsylvania posts a published cost of attendance of $26,898. That figure combines $11,380 in-state tuition and fees with $13,286 for on-campus room and board.

The charge for nonresident tuition and fees comes to $16,297. Once grants and scholarships are applied, the average aid recipient pays $16,804.

That amount is $2,736 above the $14,068 median at comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid covers about 38% of the published cost for the average recipient, a savings of $10,094.

Azimuth ranks Indiana University of Pennsylvania #665 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 53rd percentile.

The published cost of attendance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is $26,898. Azimuth ranks the university #665 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $12,364, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $14,516, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $21,933. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $9,569.

Aid saves the average recipient $10,094 against the sticker price. In-state tuition and fees are $11,380, and out-of-state tuition and fees are $16,297.

The across all aid recipients is $16,804, which is $2,736 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Borrowers who finish carry a median of $26,798 in federal student loans, $5,569 above the peer median of $21,229.

95.3% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $26,073 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $305 a month. It estimates what a family might pay based on their own finances rather than broad averages.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$14,516

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Federal borrowing is widespread at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where 95.3% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. For borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,798.

The median is $5,569 above the $21,229 median at comparable institutions (same type and size). Parent borrowers are a separate population, with median Parent PLUS borrowing of $26,073.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania presents a mixed investment picture: median earnings are $57,450 four years after completion, placing the university in the 41st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. On earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students.

This measure falls in the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Program-mix scenarios put downside earnings at $45,765, typical earnings at $57,450, and upside earnings at $78,998 four years after completion; these are scenarios, not observed groups.

Median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,798, which is $5,569 above the $21,229 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $305 a month if repaid over ten years.

Below-expected earnings and debt above the peer median leave a mixed return picture.

For the separate population of Parent PLUS parent borrowers, median borrowing is $26,073. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $305 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
$26,798
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$26,073

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$305/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$331/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 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

Indiana University of Pennsylvania career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Indiana University of Pennsylvania presents a mixed return picture: four-year earnings are above those at comparable institutions, yet graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth puts the return pillar in the 34th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, stand in the 35th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,081.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,517. Four years after completion, the median is $57,450, in the 41st percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, a gap of $149 above it.

The median for federally aided graduates of Indiana University of Pennsylvania who are working and not enrolled is $57,450 four years after completion. That figure lands at the 41st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings cohort includes 3,072 completers. Graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students.

This measure captures the gap between actual earnings and the model's expectation for similar students. That result sits at the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $45,765 on the downside to $78,998 on the upside, with a typical outcome of $57,450. An estimated 27.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The typical scenario matches the observed median, yet the model expects higher earnings for similar students.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania lands near the peer median for graduate earnings, with federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earning $57,450 four years after completing a degree. That level sits at the 41st percentile, $149 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #972 for return overall among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the earnings gap at the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations measure the distance between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,081. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,517.

The degrees awarded span several non-STEM fields, and within the measured factors the STEM component alone adds $387. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $45,765 on the downside to $78,998 on the upside, a span covering lower-earning and higher-earning clusters.

An estimated 27.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings can look quite different across fields at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The downside earnings scenario is $45,765 four years after completion, whereas the upside scenario is $78,998.

These scenarios describe possible outcomes from the program mix, not observed groups.

At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the cost-and-borrowing picture warrants care. Federal-loan borrowers who complete have median federal student loan debt of $26,798.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $21,229, and the university sits above it by $5,569. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $305 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate parent-borrower population, have median debt of $26,073.

Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $16,804. It is above the $14,068 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,736. Debt and net price both run above their peer medians.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,081
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$10,517
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$5,436

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 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

Indiana University of Pennsylvania acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Most applicants in the reported pool were admitted to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, at 90.8%. The rate stands above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Applicants should compare their preparation with the university's score ranges before deciding where to apply. It describes an outcome across the reported pool and offers context for building an application list, rather than a prediction for an individual.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
90.8%
Approximate lower endpoint
970
Reported average
1082
Approximate upper endpoint
1180

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 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

What are the largest majors at Indiana University of Pennsylvania?[12]

Program choice matters sharply at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where the higher-earning fields shown here sit well above some of its largest programs. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians has median earnings of $90,257 four years after completion and 76 degrees awarded.

Nursing follows with median earnings of $82,343 and 144 degrees awarded, placing both fields toward the higher end of this comparison. The moderate-earning side includes Criminology, with median earnings of $53,762 four years after completion and 127 degrees awarded.

Communication and Media Studies reports $43,582 and 77 degrees awarded. The distance between these fields and the higher-earning programs makes the specific field important when reading university-wide earnings.

Published program earnings at Indiana University of Pennsylvania vary widely by field. Earnings are published for 36 bachelor's fields, with several programs reporting medians well above the school-level figure four years after completion.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania awards bachelor's degrees across 36 programs with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 21.0% of degrees awarded, followed by Social Sciences at 14.8% and Health Professions at 13.7%.

The largest single programs are Nursing with 144 degrees awarded, Criminology with 127, and Business Administration and Management with 98. The highest-earning program is a specialized field.

Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians graduates earn a median of $90,257 four years after completion, from 76 degrees awarded a year. That figure is a benchmark ratio of 1.04x against the national median for its field.

The largest program, Nursing, is also the second highest-earning, with a median of $82,343. Computer and Information Sciences follows at $77,097, from 47 degrees awarded.

Economics and Biological and Physical Sciences round out the top earners, at $75,865 and $71,028 respectively, though both are small programs at 18 and 29 degrees a year. The pattern shows higher earnings concentrated in a few applied and technical fields, while the largest programs in the social sciences and communications sit lower on the earnings scale.

12.4% of degrees are in STEM fields. For fields where graduates commonly continue to graduate study, four-year earnings understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 144 degrees awarded
$82,343
Criminology 127 degrees awarded
$53,762
Business Administration, Management and Operations 98 degrees awarded
$58,931
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 79 degrees awarded
$52,984
Communication and Media Studies 77 degrees awarded
$43,582
Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians 76 degrees awarded
$90,257

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 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

How does Indiana University of Pennsylvania serve students from different backgrounds?

Mobility is the strongest pillar for Indiana University of Pennsylvania, whose mobility measure stands in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, according to Azimuth. For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 55.5%, while Pell recipients complete at 43.9%, below the overall rate by 11.6 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $5,436 less than the model expects for similar students. This earnings-beyond-expectations measure, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 35th percentile.

Strong mobility standing sits alongside lower Pell completion and below-expected earnings.

Admission at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is 90.8%, giving this public university an open entry point for applicants. It enrolls 6,764 undergraduates.

Pell Grants go to 36.8% of undergraduates, and an estimated 15.9% enter as transfers or part-time students. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the access pillar sits in the 67th percentile.

Its enrollment mix and admission pattern point to several routes into the university.

06 / Indiana University of Pennsylvania briefing

What colleges are similar to Indiana University of Pennsylvania?[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 Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Admissions peerShippensburg University of Pennsylvania86.5% admitted
Comparison with Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MeasureIndiana University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Peer earnings · 4 years$57,450$59,882+$2,432 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$16,804$23,726+$6,922 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate90.8%86.5%
Nearby alternativeShippensburg University of PennsylvaniaNearby option · PA
Comparison with Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MeasureIndiana University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Peer earnings · 4 years$57,450$59,882+$2,432 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$16,804$23,726+$6,922 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate90.8%86.5%
Higher-earnings alternativeWest Virginia University$64,952 earnings
Comparison with Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MeasureIndiana University of PennsylvaniaWest Virginia University
Peer earnings · 4 years$57,450$64,952+$7,502 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$16,804$15,634-$1,170 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania · lower cost
Admission rate90.8%89.0%
Explore West Virginia University →
Lower-cost alternativeYoungstown State University$12,767 average net price
Comparison with Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MeasureIndiana University of PennsylvaniaYoungstown State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$57,450$56,047-$1,403 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$16,804$12,767-$4,037 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania · lower cost
Admission rate90.8%84.5%
Explore Youngstown State University →
Similar profileSlippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaMatched across several measures
Comparison with Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MeasureIndiana University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Peer earnings · 4 years$57,450$57,301-$149 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$16,804$19,608+$2,804 vs Indiana University of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate90.8%71.5%

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 Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

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.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. 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

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. 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

  15. 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