College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus

PALarge public institution · Overall rank #271 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

80 ranked programs

Who it’s a good fit for

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is a public university in University Park, Pennsylvania, where the degree mix is led by Engineering and Business. Mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn roughly what predicts for students like them. The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market), and a subtraction to the remainder it cannot explain.

Pell recipients complete at a rate below the cohort as a whole, and affordability is below the levels seen at many peers. What families at the bottom of the income scale pay after aid is well below the published cost, while those at the top pay closer to it.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions, and the degree mix leans toward technical and quantitative fields.

Penn State at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
60.6%
Six-year completion[2]
86.1%
Four-year earnings[3]
$76,659

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$25,667
Median student debt[4]
$25,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$38,368

Penn State rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus enrolls 42,284 undergraduates at its University Park, Pennsylvania campus, a public university among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its composite standing sits near the top of the nonprofit four-year field (82nd percentile).

The admission rate at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is 60.6%, above the peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among full-time starters, 92.6% continue into a second year, above the peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate, which counts only first-time full-time students, is 86.1%, also above the peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 3.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that six-year figure describes a minority of the student body.

Mobility is the strongest of the four (at the 91st percentile), while affordability is the weakest (at the 10th percentile). Return and access sit between them (at the 81st and 74th percentiles respectively). The four are spread across a wide range.

Azimuth evaluates Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus across four pillars among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. Mobility is the strongest, at the 91st percentile.

Return and access sit in the 81st and 74th percentiles, respectively. Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 10th percentile.

13.9% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a figure that covers the institution's federal-aid reporting units, not this campus alone. Azimuth ranks Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus #389 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 54.6%, which is 31.5 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate. Mobility is the strongest pillar here.

Azimuth ranks the university #127 for mobility. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

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

Penn State rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#271

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 91
Access & reach
National percentile: 74
Affordability
National percentile: 10
Return on investment
National percentile: 81

Top-ranked majors

  1. Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services#2
  2. Architectural Engineering#2
  3. Engineering Science#2

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 / Penn State briefing

Penn State cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is $39,694, but the average aid recipient pays considerably more than at comparable institutions. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $20,878 and required fees of $640 for the 2026-27 academic year.

On-campus food and housing was listed at $15,968. Out-of-state students faced a published tuition of $44,574.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients is $32,875, with financial aid reducing the published cost by $6,819 on average. That is $17,241 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #1,276 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is $39,694. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $19,845.

For those in the $48,001–$75,000 band, it is $25,667, and for families earning over $110,000, it is $37,831. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $17,986.

Azimuth ranks the university #1,276 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 17% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $6,819.

The across all aid recipients is $32,875, which is above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $17,241. For families in the $30,001–$48,000 band, the average net price is $20,049, and for those in the $75,001–$110,000 band, it is $31,834.

The median federal student loan debt at completion is $25,000, with 90.2% of federal aid recipients borrowing. That figure is above the peer median of $20,076 by $4,924.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $38,368. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$25,667

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Penn State

The median federal student debt at completion is $25,000. 90.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

That median sits above the $20,076 level for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $4,924. Parent borrowers represent a separate population; their median Parent PLUS debt is $38,368.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that among 7,751 bachelor's graduates, 23% held private loans, with an average cumulative private principal of $71,776 per borrower.

Four years after completing a degree at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus, graduates earn a median of $76,659, a figure that lands in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, an outcome in the 53rd percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the university's program mix point to a typical outcome of $76,659, while the downside scenario sits at $53,559 and the upside scenario reaches $101,983. Among federal-loan borrowers who finish, the median debt at completion is $25,000, which runs above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). The estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $284.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $38,368. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $284.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$25,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$38,368

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$284/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$487/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 / Penn State briefing

Penn State career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $76,659, in the 85th percentile nationally. That is $11,049 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. That places the gap at the 53rd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $16,063. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $16,495.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus records a median of $76,659 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That is $11,049 above the median for comparable institutions (same type and size), which is $65,610.

The figure falls in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, measured from a cohort of 18,590 completers. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That outcome sits at the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix span from $53,559 on the downside to $101,983 on the upside, with $76,659 as the typical case.

An estimated 28.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. The median is above the peer median, yet graduates earn effectively what the model expects.

Federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $76,659 four years after completion, at the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is $11,049 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

For return, Azimuth ranks Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus #283 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That outcome lands at the 53rd percentile. Raw earnings sit above the median for comparable institutions, yet the model's expectation is effectively met for similar students.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component alone adds $4,233. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $16,063.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $16,495. Engineering, Business, and Computer & Information Sciences together shape the bulk of the bachelor's program mix.

Earnings scenarios estimated from that mix stretch from $53,559 on the downside to $101,983 on the upside, a wide band for graduates. Based on the program mix, an estimated 28.1% of graduates continue on to graduate study after completing.

The range from the downside to the upside earnings scenario spans $53,559 to $101,983, reflecting the spread of modeled outcomes across the university's program clusters. Individual program earnings illustrate the variation: Computer and Information Sciences completers earn a median of $120,729 four years after completion, while Psychology completers earn $49,543.

Finance graduates earn a median of $96,714 four years after finishing. The university's median earnings sit above the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The published cost of attendance at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is $39,694. After grants and scholarships, aid recipients in the lowest income band pay an average net price of $19,845, while those in the highest band pay $37,831.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $17,986. Borrowers who complete leave with a median of $25,000 in federal student loans.

That is $4,924 above the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $38,368 in Parent PLUS loans. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, and affordability is the weakest of the four pillars.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$16,063
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$16,495
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$432

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 / Penn State briefing

Penn State acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus admitted 60.6% of applicants in its most recent cycle, well above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 106,547 applicants, 58,952 admitted, and 9,148 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
60.6%
25th percentile
1280
Median
1340
75th percentile
1410

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Penn State briefing

What are the largest majors at Penn State?[12]

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus fields 80 ranked bachelor's programs, and the earnings spread across its largest fields is wide. Computer and Information Sciences leads with a median of $120,729 four years after completion, ranking #24 nationally in the field on 395 degrees awarded.

Finance follows at $96,714 and an Azimuth national rank of #40, with 449 degrees awarded. Further down the earnings scale, Psychology reports a median of $49,543 and ranks #197 nationally, on 427 degrees awarded.

Information Science/Studies sits between the highest and moderate earners at $91,671, ranking #14 nationally with 448 degrees awarded. The contrast between the highest- and lowest-earning fields shows the range of earnings four years after completion at the university.

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus offers 80 ranked bachelor's programs, with 88 programs reporting earnings data. The largest programs by degrees awarded are Finance (449 degrees awarded, median earnings $96,714 four years after completion), Information Science/Studies (448 degrees awarded, $91,671), and Psychology (427 degrees awarded, $49,543).

Several programs hold top national ranks. Biological and Biomedical Sciences ranks #2 nationally with median earnings of $81,617 and 338 degrees awarded.

Architectural Engineering also ranks #2 nationally, earning $94,483 from 92 degrees awarded. Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services ranks #2 nationally, with median earnings of $104,205 and 80 degrees awarded.

The degree mix at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is broad and balanced, with no single family dominating. Engineering and Business are nearly tied, accounting for 15.3% and 15.2% of bachelor's degrees awarded, respectively, while Computer & Information Sciences follows at 11.8%.

The university has 80 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 88 with published four-year earnings data. The largest programs by degrees awarded are Finance at 449, Information Science/Studies at 448, and Psychology at 427.

The strongest programs are concentrated in technical and science fields. Biological and Biomedical Sciences is the highest-ranked program, awarding 338 degrees a year with median earnings of $81,617 four years after completion.

Architectural Engineering and Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services also hold top national positions, with the latter showing a benchmark ratio of 1.49x against the national median for its field. The highest-earning program is Computer and Information Sciences, where graduates earn a median of $120,729 and Azimuth ranks the program #24 nationally and #4 in Pennsylvania within its field.

Petroleum Engineering follows at $113,669, though it is a much smaller program at 32 degrees awarded. The pattern is one of depth across a wide range of fields rather than reliance on a single standout.

The largest programs, like Finance and Information Science/Studies, post strong earnings and solid national ranks, while the highest-ranked programs span the sciences, engineering, and business. A student drawn to the social sciences should note that the largest program in that area, Psychology, has median earnings of $49,543, well below the university's top earners. Across all fields, 35.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 449 degrees awarded
$96,714
Information Science/Studies 448 degrees awarded
$91,671
Psychology, General 427 degrees awarded
$49,543
Computer and Information Sciences, General 395 degrees awarded
$120,729
Economics 369 degrees awarded
$81,228
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other 338 degrees awarded
$81,617

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 / Penn State briefing

How does Penn State serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus #127 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the pillar in the 91st percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 86.1%, while Pell recipients complete at 54.6%, a figure that sits below the overall rate by 31.5 percentage points. Graduates earn about $432 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result that lands in the 53rd percentile.

An estimated 3.9% of undergraduates at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus arrive as transfers or part-time students. The public university enrolls 42,284 undergraduates and admits 60.6% of applicants; the peer median is 78.1%.

Pell Grant recipients constitute 13.9% of the student body across the institution's federal-aid reporting units, not this campus alone. Azimuth scores the access pillar at the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Penn State briefing

What colleges are similar to Penn State?[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 Penn State.

Admissions peerLebanon Valley College83.8% admitted
Comparison with Penn State
MeasurePenn StateLebanon Valley College
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,659$63,570-$13,089 vs Penn State
Average annual net price$19,550$26,979+$7,429 vs Penn State · higher cost
Admission rate60.6%83.8%
Nearby alternativeFranklin and Marshall CollegeNearby option · PA
Comparison with Penn State
MeasurePenn StateFranklin and Marshall College
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,659$74,391-$2,268 vs Penn State
Average annual net price$19,550$36,425+$16,875 vs Penn State · higher cost
Admission rate60.6%28.2%
Higher-earnings alternativeCal Poly Maritime Academy$108,757 earnings
Comparison with Penn State
MeasurePenn StateCal Poly Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,659$108,757+$32,098 vs Penn State
Average annual net price$19,550$20,555+$1,005 vs Penn State · higher cost
Admission rate60.6%95.0%
Explore Cal Poly Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Florida$4,815 average net price
Comparison with Penn State
MeasurePenn StateUniversity of Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,659$77,321+$662 vs Penn State
Average annual net price$19,550$4,815-$14,735 vs Penn State · lower cost
Admission rate60.6%61.3%
Explore University of Florida →
Similar profileRutgers University-New BrunswickMatched across several measures
Comparison with Penn State
MeasurePenn StateRutgers University-New Brunswick
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,659$77,933+$1,274 vs Penn State
Average annual net price$19,550$24,406+$4,856 vs Penn State · higher cost
Admission rate60.6%58.2%
Explore Rutgers University-New Brunswick →

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