College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Lehigh University

PAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #143 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places the university in the 90th percentile overall.

Who it’s a good fit for

Lehigh University is a private nonprofit university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where the degree mix is led by Business, Engineering, and Computer & Information Sciences. Return is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that to the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — than to what it cannot explain.

Pell Grant recipients complete within a few points of the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is well above average. Access is above average, while affordability is below the levels seen at many peers.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions. The largest programs include both the highest-earning fields and others with more moderate earnings, so the return picture depends on the major.

Lehigh University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
25.9%
Six-year completion[2]
87.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$101,748

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$18,722
Median student debt[4]
$21,960
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$42,245

Lehigh University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

5,898 undergraduates enroll at Lehigh University, a private nonprofit university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university sits near the top of the composite ranking (90th percentile).

The overall position is high, yet the four underneath run from near the top of the distribution to near the bottom. 25.9% of applicants to Lehigh University are admitted, while the median for comparable institutions of the same type and size is 71.2%.

Of students who start full time, 93.7% return for a second year, while the peer median is 83.4%. The six-year graduation rate is 87.9%, while comparable institutions post a median of 68.8%.

An estimated 3.2% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate covers the cohort that starts here full time. At Lehigh University, return is the strongest pillar (99th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (8th percentile).

Mobility and access fall between those extremes (79th and 72nd percentiles). The four pillars are widely separated, stretching from near the top to near the bottom.

Return is the clearest strength in Lehigh University’s Azimuth profile, reaching the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Access stands in the 72nd percentile, and mobility reaches the 79th percentile.

Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 8th percentile. The profile pairs very strong return measures with a cost dimension that merits close attention.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,370 and 1,500. For the ACT, the middle 50% of submitted scores fell between 31 and 34.

17.7% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks Lehigh University #418 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 84.3%, a rate that sits 3.6 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (87.9%). Azimuth ranks the university #311 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $18,955 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Lehigh University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#143

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 79
Access & reach
National percentile: 72
Affordability
National percentile: 8
Return on investment
National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

  1. Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General#1
  2. Journalism#3
  3. Industrial Engineering#4

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Lehigh University briefing

Lehigh University cost & financial aid[6][7]

At Lehigh University, the published cost of attendance is $80,856 (an average across living arrangements), making the upfront price a central part of the affordability picture. Published tuition and fees are $64,980, with room and board listed at $17,220.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $36,931. Financial aid offsets $43,925 from the published price on average.

That net price is $9,560 above the $27,371 peer median at comparable institutions, meaning institutions in the same type and size. Azimuth places the university’s affordability pillar in the 8th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The higher net price and low affordability standing point in the same direction.

The published cost of attendance at Lehigh University is $80,856 (an average across living arrangements), with aid recipients facing sharply different average net prices by family-income band. The low-income family-income band averages $16,917, followed by $17,140 in the lower-middle band, $18,722 in the middle band, $22,184 in the upper-middle band, and $48,751 in the high-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $31,834. Azimuth ranks the university #1,295 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 54% of the published cost, an average savings of $43,925. Among first-time, full-time aid recipients, the , what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $36,931.

That is $9,560 above the peer median net price of $27,371, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition and fees are $64,980, and room and board are $17,220.

The overall net price sits above the peer middle value despite the average aid offset. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $21,960, and 95.3% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

The median is $2,239 below the peer median debt of $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $42,245.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$18,722

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Lehigh University

Lehigh University has median federal student loan debt of $21,960 at completion, compared with a peer median of $24,199 among comparable institutions (same type and size). The university's median is $2,239 below that benchmark.

Federal loans reach 95.3% of federal aid recipients. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $42,245.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 48% of graduates borrowed from any source, with average cumulative borrowing of $39,765 per borrower, including 46% with federal loans. Those federal borrowers averaged $21,240.

The any-source figure includes 13% of graduates with private loans, averaging $65,797.

Lehigh University pairs high earnings after completion with federal debt below the benchmark for comparable institutions. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $101,748.

Azimuth places that figure in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $18,955 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places this measure in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The downside, typical, and upside earnings scenarios are $69,368, $101,748, and $132,842.

Median federal debt of $21,960 is $2,239 below the $24,199 peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month if repaid over ten years. High earnings and lower debt than peers point in the same direction.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $42,245. For borrowers with median federal student debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 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
$21,960
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$42,245

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$250/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$537/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 / Lehigh University briefing

Lehigh University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $101,748, placing the university in the 97th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with Lehigh earnings $33,498 above that benchmark.

Graduates earn about $18,955 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, falls in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $12,901. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,054.

Azimuth places Lehigh University's return pillar in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

At Lehigh University, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median $101,748 four years after completion. That earnings level falls in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawing on an earnings cohort of 1,166 completers.

Program mix modeling sets a typical earnings scenario at $101,748, between a downside scenario of $69,368 and an upside scenario of $132,842. Graduates earn about $18,955 more than the model expects for similar students.

An estimated 28.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The high earnings standing and higher-than-expected earnings point the same way.

Lehigh University shows a high-return earnings picture: federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $101,748 four years after completion, in the 97th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, placing the university $33,498 above it.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, are in the 95th percentile. Graduates earn about $18,955 more than 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 $12,901. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,054.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $5,895. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix run from $69,368 on the downside to $132,842 on the upside.

Azimuth ranks the university #21 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison and model estimate both point to earnings above their reference points.

Finance leads the program results, with 197 degrees awarded and median earnings of $127,210 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks the program #10 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field, and its median is 1.81x the national median for that field.

Computer Science recorded 138 degrees awarded and $141,691 in median earnings, while Accounting recorded 58 degrees awarded and $125,874. These larger programs pair substantial award counts with earnings that vary across fields.

The earnings picture varies across earnings scenarios: the downside scenario is $69,368 and the upside scenario is $132,842. These scenarios are modeled from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

Program medians show part of that spread four years after completion: Computer Science is $141,691, Finance is $127,210, and Accounting is $125,874. The range between the earnings scenarios sits alongside substantial differences across these fields.

At Lehigh University, strong graduate earnings need to be weighed against the price paid by aid recipients. Median federal student loan debt among borrowers who completed is $21,960, below the $24,199 peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), by $2,239.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month if repaid over ten years. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $36,931.

It is above the $27,371 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size), by $9,560. Aid covers about 54% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

Graduates earn about $18,955 more than the model expects for similar students. Lower borrower debt and higher-than-expected earnings support the return picture, but the above-peer average net price remains a separate cost consideration.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$12,901
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$6,054
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$18,955

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 / Lehigh University briefing

Lehigh University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Lehigh University admitted 25.9% of applicants, a rate below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 19,342 first-year applicants, 5,601 admitted applicants, and 1,535 enrolled students.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
25.9%
Approximate lower endpoint
1370
Reported average
1440
Approximate upper endpoint
1500

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 / Lehigh University briefing

What are the largest majors at Lehigh University?[12]

Lehigh University shows a clear split between higher-earning business and computing fields and a more moderate psychology result four years after completion. Computer Science reports median earnings of $141,691 and 138 degrees awarded.

Finance records $127,210 across 197 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #10 nationally in its field. Accounting has median earnings of $125,874 four years after completion, with 58 degrees awarded.

By comparison, Psychology records $74,939 and 63 degrees awarded. The figures show that earnings vary considerably across these large and high-earning fields.

Lehigh University has 19 ranked bachelor’s field, while 24 fields have published earnings data. Among the largest fields, Computer Science awarded 138 degrees and had median earnings of $141,691 four years after completion.

Mechanical Engineering awarded 80 degrees with earnings of $96,618, while Psychology awarded 63 degrees and had earnings of $74,939. The largest fields show a wide earnings range.

Lehigh University's bachelor's degrees are concentrated in business and engineering. The Business family accounts for 29.1% of degrees awarded, followed by Engineering at 21.9% and Computer & Information Sciences at 12.5%.

Across 24 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest is Finance with 197 degrees awarded, followed by Computer Science at 138 and Mechanical Engineering at 80. Azimuth ranks 19 program nationally within its field.

The highest-ranked program is Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, which Azimuth ranks #1 in Pennsylvania within its field. Its graduates earn a median of $91,697 four years after completion.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn $141,691. Accounting is a smaller program at 58 degrees, but its graduates earn $125,874, which is 1.65x the national median for its field.

The largest programs, the highest-earning programs, and the highest-ranked programs are not the same. 45.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the business and engineering families together account for more than half of all degrees.

A student drawn to the social sciences should know that Psychology, the fourth-largest program at 63 degrees, reports median earnings of $74,939.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 197 degrees awarded
$127,210
Computer Science 138 degrees awarded
$141,691
Mechanical Engineering 80 degrees awarded
$96,618
Psychology, General 63 degrees awarded
$74,939
Accounting and Related Services 58 degrees awarded
$125,874
Business/Managerial Economics 56 degrees awarded
$113,630

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 / Lehigh University briefing

How does Lehigh University serve students from different backgrounds?

Graduates earn about $18,955 more than the model expects for similar students, placing earnings beyond expectations—the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students—in the 95th percentile. For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 87.9%, and Pell recipients complete within six years at 84.3%, below the overall rate by 3.6 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Completion and higher-than-expected earnings point in the same direction.

Lehigh University combines a 25.9% admission rate with undergraduate enrollment of 5,898, giving its access profile both an entry measure and a campus scale. Pell Grant recipients account for 17.7% of undergraduates, and an estimated 3.2% of the undergraduate population enters as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. These figures describe access through admissions, financial-access reach, and transfer entry.

06 / Lehigh University briefing

What colleges are similar to Lehigh 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 Lehigh University.

Admissions peerVillanova University27.0% admitted
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityVillanova University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$104,228+$2,480 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$43,756+$6,825 vs Lehigh University · higher cost
Admission rate25.9%27.0%
Explore Villanova University →
Higher-admission alternativeDrexel University79.4% admitted
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityDrexel University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$91,041-$10,707 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$38,509+$1,578 vs Lehigh University · higher cost
Admission rate25.9%79.4%
Explore Drexel University →
Nearby alternativeVillanova UniversityNearby option · PA
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityVillanova University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$104,228+$2,480 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$43,756+$6,825 vs Lehigh University · higher cost
Admission rate25.9%27.0%
Explore Villanova University →
Higher-earnings alternativeBabson College$117,794 earnings
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityBabson College
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$117,794+$16,046 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$40,514+$3,583 vs Lehigh University · higher cost
Admission rate25.9%17.1%
Explore Babson College →
Lower-cost alternativePrinceton University$6,128 average net price
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityPrinceton University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$108,590+$6,842 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$6,128-$30,803 vs Lehigh University · lower cost
Admission rate25.9%4.6%
Explore Princeton University →
Similar profileRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteMatched across several measures
Comparison with Lehigh University
MeasureLehigh UniversityRensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,748$98,311-$3,437 vs Lehigh University
Average annual net price$36,931$36,228-$703 vs Lehigh University · lower cost
Admission rate25.9%63.5%
Explore Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute →

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