College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

York College of Pennsylvania

PAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #830 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks York College of Pennsylvania #830 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

York College of Pennsylvania is a private nonprofit university in York, Pennsylvania, where Business and Health Professions lead the degree mix. Return is around the average, and mobility is modestly below average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts.

Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study. What aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships sits below the median at comparable institutions.

Pell recipients complete within a few points of the overall rate, and access is around the average. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools.

The degree mix is oriented toward Business, Health Professions, and Engineering.

York College of Pennsylvania at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
73.7%
Six-year completion[2]
64.1%
Four-year earnings[3]
$65,789

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$17,024
Median student debt[4]
$26,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$33,999

York College of Pennsylvania rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

York College of Pennsylvania is a private nonprofit university in York, Pennsylvania, enrolling 3,265 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (43rd percentile).

The four that make up that standing are not far apart, but they lean toward return and away from mobility. The university admits 73.7% of applicants, a rate close to the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Among full-time first-year students, 78.2% return for a second year, against a median of 83.4% for comparable institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 64.1%, compared with a median of 68.8% for comparable institutions.

An estimated 18.9% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate covers the first-time full-time cohort and excludes those who started elsewhere. Return is the strongest pillar (53rd percentile), while mobility is the weakest (32nd percentile).

Access and affordability sit between them (49th and 45th percentiles). The shape is a private nonprofit university where the earnings picture is the relative strength, and the pillars are close enough that none stands far apart from the others.

Return is the strongest part of York College of Pennsylvania’s profile, though no pillar stands far from the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places return in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, ahead of affordability at the 45th percentile.

Access sits in the 49th percentile, and mobility is the weakest pillar at the 32nd percentile.

Undergraduates at York College of Pennsylvania receive Pell Grants at a rate of 28.1%. Among enrolled students who submitted test scores, the middle 50% of SAT scores fell between 1,020 and 1,270.

The middle 50% of ACT scores fell between 21 and 28. Azimuth ranks York College of Pennsylvania #746 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients finish within six years at 59.2%, a rate that trails the entering cohort by 4.9 percentage points. Azimuth ranks the university #992 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For mobility. Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

York College of Pennsylvania rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#830

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 32
Access & reach
National percentile: 49
Affordability
National percentile: 45
Return on investment
National percentile: 53

01 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

York College of Pennsylvania cost & financial aid[6][7]

At York College of Pennsylvania, the average net price is $18,556 for aid recipients, which is what they pay after grants and scholarships. That leaves the average aided price well below the published cost, though individual packages can differ.

The standard published cost of attendance is $37,319 (an average across living arrangements). Tuition and fees account for $25,588, and room and board are listed at $13,560.

For the average aid recipient, financial aid reduces the published cost by $18,763. Comparable institutions, meaning those in the same type and size, have a peer median net price of $27,371, so York’s average is $8,815 below that benchmark.

Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 45th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The lower average price and the below-peer comparison point in the same direction.

The published cost of attendance at York College of Pennsylvania is $37,319 (an average across living arrangements). After grants and scholarships, the average net price—what aid recipients actually pay—is $12,927 for families earning under $30,000, $17,024 for those in the $48,001–$75,000 band, and $22,196 for families earning over $110,000.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $9,269. Azimuth ranks the university #783 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the overall to $18,556. This is $8,815 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The published tuition and fees are $25,588, with room and board adding $13,560. Borrowers who complete a degree leave with a median of $26,000 in federal student loans, which is $1,801 above the peer median of $24,199.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years. Nearly all undergraduates borrow: 95.8% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $33,999.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$17,024

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at York College of Pennsylvania

At York College of Pennsylvania, federal borrowing touches 95.8% of federal aid recipients, making loan exposure a central part of the cost picture. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199, and the university's median is $1,801 above that benchmark. Parent PLUS borrowers are a separate parent-borrower population, with median debt of $33,999.

Return is York College of Pennsylvania’s strongest measured pillar, but the earnings and borrowing figures give a mixed picture. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn median earnings of $65,789 four years after completion; Azimuth places that figure in the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, fall in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students.

A downside earnings scenario is $48,285 and an upside scenario is $93,109; the typical scenario matches the observed median. Median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,000, $1,801 above the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years. The return picture is mixed: modeled earnings trail expectations and debt is above peers.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $33,999. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 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
$26,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$33,999

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$295/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$432/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 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

York College of Pennsylvania career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

At York College of Pennsylvania, return measures offer a mixed reading, with the pillar in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 29th 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 $5,150.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $11,788. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,406.

Median earnings are $65,789 four years after completion, in the 68th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and York College sits below it by $2,461. Both comparisons sit below their reference points.

York College of Pennsylvania posts a comparatively high earnings level four years after completion, even though its model comparison is less favorable. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $65,789 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, using an earnings cohort of 1,252 completers. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is less favorable here.

Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students. The typical earnings scenario, based on the program mix, is $65,789.

An estimated 27.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The earnings percentile and the below-expected model result point in different directions.

York College of Pennsylvania has median earnings of $65,789 four years after completion, placing the figure in the 68th percentile. Against the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $68,250, the college’s figure is $2,461 below.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, falls in the 29th percentile. Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $48,285 on the downside to $93,109 on the upside.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,150. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $11,788.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,406. The observed earnings figure sits near the peer median, while the modeled expectation measure points lower.

Nursing is the largest field, with 145 degrees awarded and median earnings of $91,052 four years after completion. Criminal Justice adds 46 degrees awarded and median earnings of $60,275.

These fields show different earnings figures across programs, alongside the college-level result.

Earnings vary widely across the modeled program-mix scenarios at York College of Pennsylvania. The downside scenario is $48,285, and the upside scenario is $93,109; these are earnings scenarios rather than observed groups of graduates.

At the program level, median earnings four years after completion are $103,354 in Electrical Engineering, $100,044 in Computer Science, and $91,052 in Nursing. Those program figures show why the modeled range spans a broad set of outcomes.

At York College of Pennsylvania, lower average prices for aid recipients sit beside higher borrowing than at comparable colleges. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $18,556.

That is below the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $27,371, by $8,815. By income band, average net price is $12,927 for the lowest band, $14,581 for the next, $17,024 for the middle, $17,799 for the next, and $22,196 for the highest.

Borrowers who completed had median federal student loan debt of $26,000, above the $24,199 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,801. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students. Lower prices do not erase the higher borrowing or below-expected earnings.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,150
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$11,788
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$6,638

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 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

York College of Pennsylvania acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

For applicants, York College of Pennsylvania has an admission rate of 73.7%, describing the share of that year's applicant pool admitted. The rate is above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
73.7%
Approximate lower endpoint
1020
Reported average
1162
Approximate upper endpoint
1270

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 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

What are the largest majors at York College of Pennsylvania?[12]

At York College of Pennsylvania, program-level earnings vary sharply four years after completion, making field choice central to the return picture. Electrical Engineering sits at the higher end, with median earnings of $103,354 and 7 degrees awarded.

Computer Science also records $100,044 across 9 degrees awarded. Nursing combines $91,052 in median earnings with 145 degrees awarded, placing a large program among the higher-earning fields.

By contrast, Criminal Justice reports $60,275 across 46 degrees awarded. The contrast between these fields shows that the school-level earnings figure can conceal substantially different outcomes by program.

Business accounts for 20.4% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, with Health Professions close behind at 19.9%. Published program earnings show a wide range across York College of Pennsylvania’s larger and higher-earning fields. Computer Science awarded 9 degrees and posted $100,044.

The degree mix at York College of Pennsylvania is balanced between two large families. Business accounts for 20.4% of bachelor's degrees awarded, and Health Professions follows closely at 19.9%.

Engineering is a smaller third at 9.8%, and 24.6% of degrees are in STEM fields overall. Nursing is the largest single program, awarding 145 degrees a year.

Its graduates earn a median of $91,052 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.02x against the national median for its field. Business Administration and Management and Criminal Justice are the next largest, at 55 and 46 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning programs are much smaller. Electrical Engineering graduates report the top median at $103,354 four years after completion, from just 7 degrees a year.

Computer Science follows at $100,044 four years after completion with 9 degrees awarded. The university has 24 programs with published four-year earnings data.

The pattern is a large, high-earning health professions anchor alongside a broad business core. The strongest individual earnings are concentrated in a handful of small engineering and computer science programs that award fewer than a dozen degrees a year.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 145 degrees awarded
$91,052
Business Administration, Management and Operations 55 degrees awarded
$69,548
Criminal Justice and Corrections 46 degrees awarded
$60,275
Mechanical Engineering 44 degrees awarded
$89,995
Biology, General 44 degrees awarded
$67,444
Psychology, General 36 degrees awarded
$53,927

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 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

How does York College of Pennsylvania serve students from different backgrounds?

Return is the university’s strongest pillar, though completion and modeled earnings make mobility less favorable. The first-time full-time cohort has a 64.1% six-year graduation rate, and Pell recipients complete within six years at 59.2%, below the overall rate by 4.9 percentage points.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, mobility sits in the 32nd percentile. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 29th percentile.

Graduates earn about $6,638 less than the model expects for similar students. The Pell completion gap and below-expected earnings point in the same direction.

York College of Pennsylvania admits 73.7% of applicants and enrolls 3,265 undergraduates, giving its access profile a broad entry point. Pell Grants reach 28.1% of undergraduates, a financial-access measure, and an estimated 18.9% of the undergraduate population enters as transfers or part-time students.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the access pillar falls in the 49th percentile.

06 / York College of Pennsylvania briefing

What colleges are similar to York College 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 York College of Pennsylvania.

Admissions peerWest Chester University of Pennsylvania78.4% admitted
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaWest Chester University of Pennsylvania
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$64,804-$985 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$23,331+$4,775 vs York College of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate73.7%78.4%
Explore West Chester University of Pennsylvania →
Higher-admission alternativeLa Salle University96.6% admitted
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaLa Salle University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$70,254+$4,465 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$19,409+$853 vs York College of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate73.7%96.6%
Nearby alternativeElizabethtown CollegeNearby option · PA
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaElizabethtown College
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$66,236+$447 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$26,598+$8,042 vs York College of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate73.7%77.9%
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Delaware$77,675 earnings
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Delaware
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$77,675+$11,886 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$17,799-$757 vs York College of Pennsylvania · lower cost
Admission rate73.7%70.6%
Explore University of Delaware →
Lower-cost alternativeMorgan State University$14,985 average net price
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaMorgan State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$62,308-$3,481 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$14,985-$3,571 vs York College of Pennsylvania · lower cost
Admission rate73.7%82.2%
Explore Morgan State University →
Similar profileSt. Joseph's University-New YorkMatched across several measures
Comparison with York College of Pennsylvania
MeasureYork College of PennsylvaniaSt. Joseph's University-New York
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,789$64,336-$1,453 vs York College of Pennsylvania
Average annual net price$18,556$19,035+$479 vs York College of Pennsylvania · higher cost
Admission rate73.7%72.1%
Explore St. Joseph's University-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 is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. 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