College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Pennsylvania

PALarge private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #52 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of Pennsylvania #52 nationally, with a return in the 99th percentile.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Pennsylvania is a private nonprofit university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the degree mix is led by Business and Social Sciences. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

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

Return is among the highest we track. The price case turns on income: at the bottom of the scale, aid can exceed the published cost entirely, while families at the top pay closer to it.

Pell students complete at a rate below the cohort as a whole, and mobility is well above average. The admission rate is well below the median for comparable institutions, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

A student weighing the cost should know that affordability is modestly below average.

Penn at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
5.4%
Six-year completion[2]
96.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$124,586

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$10,439
Median student debt[4]
$15,715
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$33,124

Penn rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Pennsylvania is a private nonprofit university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, enrolling 10,650 undergraduates. It sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (97th percentile).

University of Pennsylvania admits 5.4% of applicants, against a median of 47.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 98.9% return for a second year, against a peer median of 90.1%.

96.5% complete within six years, the six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort, compared with a peer median of 80.0%. An estimated 4.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes a cohort that began here.

Return is the strongest of the four pillars and affordability the weakest, with access and mobility sitting between them. The four are spread wide: access and mobility sit close together, while return sits well above the rest and affordability far below.

Azimuth ranks University of Pennsylvania #52 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The return pillar is the strongest, in the 99th percentile, reflecting median earnings four years after completion that reach $124,586.

The access pillar sits in the 89th percentile and the mobility pillar in the 88th percentile. Affordability is the weakest pillar, in the 38th percentile.

For enrolled students who submitted scores, the middle 50% of SAT results span 1,510 to 1,570, while ACT results for the same group span 34 to 36. Federal Pell Grants currently reach 16.5% of undergraduates here.

Azimuth ranks University of Pennsylvania #162 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Within the first-time full-time cohort, Pell recipients finish within six years at 86.2%, a rate that sits 10.3 percentage points below the overall cohort figure (96.5%).

That measured completion gap appears alongside the Pell share in the access pillar. Azimuth ranks the university #179 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Its graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students, a result used in the mobility pillar.

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

Penn rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#52

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 88
Access & reach
National percentile: 89
Affordability
National percentile: 38
Return on investment
National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

  1. Communication and Media Studies#1
  2. Computer and Information Sciences, General#1
  3. Biomedical/Medical Engineering#1

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 briefing

Penn cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at University of Pennsylvania reaches $89,028, a figure that includes $68,686 in tuition and fees and $19,174 for room and board. For aid recipients, the average net price falls to $28,699, with aid offsetting $60,329 of the sticker total.

That support covers roughly 68% of the published cost for a typical recipient. Against the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size), the university's is below by $7,512.

For affordability, Azimuth places the university at #872 among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 38th percentile.

The published cost of attendance at the University of Pennsylvania is $89,028, with tuition and fees at $68,686 and room and board at $19,174. For aid recipients from families earning under $30,000, the average net price is -$3,012, meaning aid exceeds the full cost for qualifying families.

The average net price for aid recipients from families earning $48,001–$75,000 is $10,439, and for aid recipients from families earning over $110,000 it is $55,972. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $58,984.

Azimuth ranks the university #872 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Financial aid provides an average savings of $60,329 against the sticker price, bringing the average net price for first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients to $28,699.

That figure is below the median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $7,512. Median federal student loan debt at completion is $15,715.

That median is below the peer median of $23,168 for comparable institutions, a difference of $7,453. About 75.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $33,124. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for the median federal debt is $179.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$10,439

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Net price can be negative: when grants and scholarships exceed the listed cost of attendance, students can receive the difference as a refund for other expenses.

Borrowing and repayment at Penn

Borrowers who complete a degree at University of Pennsylvania leave with a median of $15,715 in federal student loans. That is $7,453 below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Federal borrowing is common: 75.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $33,124 in Parent PLUS loans.

Graduates of the University of Pennsylvania earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students. That outcome places the university in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The median earnings four years after completion reach $124,586, a figure in the 99th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios based on the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $124,586, a downside scenario of $64,345, and an upside scenario of $203,421.

For borrowers who complete a degree, the median federal student debt is $15,715, which runs below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). The estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $179.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $33,124. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $179.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$15,715
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$33,124

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$179/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$421/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 briefing

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

Azimuth ranks University of Pennsylvania #5 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students, a figure in the 96th percentile nationally.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,935. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $11,100.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,533. The median earnings four years after completion stand at $124,586, in the 99th percentile.

That is above the peer median of $83,615 by $40,971 among comparable institutions (same type and size).

The four-year earnings cohort at University of Pennsylvania includes 2,701 completers. Among federally aided completers working and not enrolled, the median earnings four years after completion reach $124,586, placing the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That median runs above the $83,615 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $40,971. Graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 96th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, show a typical return of $124,586, a downside scenario of $64,345, and an upside scenario of $203,421. An estimated 33.7% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

The median earnings for federally aided graduates four years after completion is $124,586, a figure that sits at the 99th percentile nationally. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $83,615, which puts the university $40,971 above that benchmark.

Azimuth ranks University of Pennsylvania #5 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap at the 96th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,935.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $11,100. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,533.

The fields involved are concentrated in business and quantitative disciplines. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from a downside of $64,345 to an upside of $203,421.

An estimated 33.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The median earnings figure is a single point; the program mix at University of Pennsylvania means a wide range of possible outcomes. Earnings scenarios, estimated from that mix, run from $64,345 on the downside to $203,421 on the upside.

At the higher end, Computer and Information Sciences graduates earn a median of $241,380 four years after completion, and Finance graduates earn $202,069. The largest program is also Finance, placing the most popular path near the top of the range.

University of Pennsylvania graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students, while federal borrowers who complete a degree leave with a median debt of $15,715. That debt level is below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $7,453, and the estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $179.

The average net price for aid recipients is $28,699, which is below the $36,211 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $7,512. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is -$3,012, and aid covers about 68% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

The median Parent PLUS debt among parent borrowers, a population separate from student borrowers, is $33,124.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,935
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$11,100
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$21,035

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 briefing

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

The University of Pennsylvania admitted 5.4% of applicants, a figure far below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
5.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
1510
Reported average
1553
Approximate upper endpoint
1570

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 / Penn briefing

What are the largest majors at Penn?[12]

The University of Pennsylvania's highest-earning bachelor's program is Computer and Information Sciences, where completers earn a median of $241,380 four years after completion, alongside 172 degrees awarded. Finance follows at $202,069 with 398 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #1 in its field.

Nursing reports median earnings of $98,475 and an Azimuth national rank of #78 on 206 degrees awarded. Philosophy reaches $107,454 and ranks #1 nationally.

Azimuth ranks 20 programs at University of Pennsylvania, and earnings data is available for 23 fields of study. The largest program, Finance, awarded 398 degrees and holds the #1 national rank, with a median of $202,069 four years after completion.

Economics follows with 234 degrees awarded and median earnings of $129,985. Management Science awarded 209 degrees and its completers earn a median of $153,279.

The Nursing program, ranked #78 nationally and #6 in Pennsylvania, awarded 206 degrees and shows median earnings of $98,475. Philosophy rounds out the largest programs with 202 degrees awarded, a #1 national rank, and median earnings of $107,454 four years after completion.

The University of Pennsylvania awards bachelor's degrees across 20 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 23 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 24.6% of degrees awarded, followed by Social Sciences at 13.7% and Biological Sciences at 9.7%.

The largest single programs are Finance at 398 degrees awarded, Economics at 234, and Management Science at 209. Finance is the largest program and also the highest-ranked, with Azimuth ranking it #1 in Pennsylvania within its field.

Graduates earn a median of $202,069 four years after completion, and the program carries a benchmark ratio of 2.42x against the national median for its field. Philosophy is another top-ranked program, with Azimuth ranking it #1 nationally and #1 in Pennsylvania within its field.

It awards 202 degrees a year, and its graduates earn a median of $107,454. The highest-earning program is Computer and Information Sciences, where graduates earn a median of $241,380 from 172 degrees awarded annually.

The pattern is one of concentrated strength in business and finance, with the largest program also the best-ranked. 31.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the highest earnings come from a program outside the three largest families.

Four-year earnings for fields that commonly precede graduate study may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 398 degrees awarded
$202,069
Economics 234 degrees awarded
$129,985
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 209 degrees awarded
$153,279
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 206 degrees awarded
$98,475
Philosophy 202 degrees awarded
$107,454
Computer and Information Sciences, General 172 degrees awarded
$241,380

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 briefing

How does Penn serve students from different backgrounds?

Graduates earn about $21,035 more than the model expects for similar students, a level at the 96th percentile. University of Pennsylvania sits at #179 in the Azimuth mobility ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university's mobility pillar falls in the 88th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 86.2%, a figure below the overall six-year graduation rate of 96.5% by 10.3 percentage points.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Pennsylvania in the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university admits 5.4% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 47.1%.

Pell Grant recipients make up 16.5% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 4.0% arrive as transfers or part-time students. Undergraduate enrollment stands at 10,650.

06 / Penn briefing

What colleges are similar to Penn?[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.

Admissions peerPrinceton University4.6% admitted
Comparison with Penn
MeasurePennPrinceton University
Peer earnings · 4 years$124,586$108,590-$15,996 vs Penn
Average annual net price$28,699$6,128-$22,571 vs Penn · lower cost
Admission rate5.4%4.6%
Explore Princeton University →
Higher-admission alternativeStevens Institute of Technology47.6% admitted
Comparison with Penn
MeasurePennStevens Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$124,586$112,538-$12,048 vs Penn
Average annual net price$28,699$41,346+$12,647 vs Penn · higher cost
Admission rate5.4%47.6%
Explore Stevens Institute of Technology →
Nearby alternativeVillanova UniversityNearby option · PA
Comparison with Penn
MeasurePennVillanova University
Peer earnings · 4 years$124,586$104,228-$20,358 vs Penn
Average annual net price$28,699$43,756+$15,057 vs Penn · higher cost
Admission rate5.4%27.0%
Explore Villanova University →
Lower-cost alternativePrinceton University$6,128 average net price
Comparison with Penn
MeasurePennPrinceton University
Peer earnings · 4 years$124,586$108,590-$15,996 vs Penn
Average annual net price$28,699$6,128-$22,571 vs Penn · lower cost
Admission rate5.4%4.6%
Explore Princeton University →
Similar profileColumbia University in the City of New YorkMatched across several measures
Comparison with Penn
MeasurePennColumbia University in the City of New York
Peer earnings · 4 years$124,586$115,519-$9,067 vs Penn
Average annual net price$28,699$21,590-$7,109 vs Penn · lower cost
Admission rate5.4%4.0%
Explore Columbia University in the City of New York →

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