Private nonprofit · College
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Lancaster, Pennsylvania · Small city
- 99.2%
- Admit rate
- $30,083
- Avg net price
- 69%
- Graduation rate
- $33,301
- Median earnings
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (small city setting), enrolling 400 undergraduates.
About Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Originally called Hickory Town, Lancaster was renamed after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Since 2005, Lancaster's downtown has increased the number of specialty shops, boutiques, bars, clubs, and galleries. (Wikipedia)
- Setting
- Small city
- Highest degree offered
- Bachelor's
- Nearest big city
- Lancaster, PA
- To the ocean
- 35 miles
- Nearest airport
- 6 miles to Lancaster (LNS)
How Pennsylvania College of Art and Design compares
More selective than 5% · #110 most selective of 111 in Pennsylvania
Higher than 75% · #39 of 116 in Pennsylvania
Higher than 76%
Higher than 5% · #115 of 116 in Pennsylvania
Cheaper than 16% · #91 cheapest of 112 in Pennsylvania
Lower than 11%
Lower than 76%
Larger than 19%
Percentiles compare Pennsylvania College of Art and Design with the nation's 2,196 four-year colleges, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count four-year colleges in Pennsylvania.
Student body
Undergraduates by gender
- Women27469%
- Men12632%
Undergraduates by race / ethnicity
- White62%
- Black15%
- Hispanic3.0%
- Asian4.8%
- Other or multiracial16%
Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.
By the numbers
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 400
- Student–faculty ratio
- 10 : 1
- Pell Grant recipients
- 47%
- First-generation students
- —
- Students over 25
- 7%
- Median family income
- $56,988
- Avg faculty salary (academic year)
- $41,166
- Endowment
- $3,393,269
Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.
Where students come from
Home state of the 95 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.
- From Pennsylvania71%
- Other U.S. states30%
Most first-years stay in state — Pennsylvania College of Art and Design draws overwhelmingly from Pennsylvania.
Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.
Admissions
- Admission rate
- 99.2%
- Test scores
- Not considered
- SAT range (25th–75th %)
- —
- SAT average
- —
- SAT reading
- —
- SAT math
- —
- ACT composite
- —
Cost
- In-state tuition
- $32,150
- Room & board
- $17,230
- Books & supplies
- $1,650
- Total cost of attendance
- $43,815
- Average net price
- $30,083
Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.
Outcomes
- Graduated (within 6 years)
- 69%
- Graduated on time (4 years)
- 67%
- First-year retention
- 85%
- Transferred to another college
- 0%
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry
- $23,638
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry
- $33,301
- Median debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Students with federal loans
- 69%
- Paying down their loans (1 year in)
- 58%
Graduating on time
By student background (4 years)
When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.
Campus life & athletics
- On-campus housing
- Yes
- Dorm capacity
- 183
- Dorm capacity vs undergrads
- 46%
- Housing charge (year)
- $9,870
- Application fee
- Free
Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.
Campus safety
- Safety grade
- C
- Reported offenses per 1,000 students
- 3.2 / year
- Violent offenses (2022–2024)
- 4
- Property offenses (2022–2024)
- 0
On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (414 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.
Reported offenses in an average year
The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.
By offense type, per year
Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.
What you'll actually pay, by family income
Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.
College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.
Four-year (or more) true cost
Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.
$26,576/year × about 4.0 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.
Does the school pay you to attend?
Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.
Modest institutional aid: 100% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $6,771. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.
Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 64 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.
Is it worth it?
A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.
- Median earnings (10 years)
- $33,301
- Typical debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Debt vs. one year's pay
- 81%
- Out-earn a HS grad
- 33%
Typical debt would take roughly 8.1 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.
The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.
Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.
The pay gap here
Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.
Men out-earn women by $4,559 (15%) a decade out.
Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.
Campus climate
- Summer high
- 87°F
- Winter low
- 22°F
- Annual rain
- 44.1″
- Annual snow
- 21.4″
Average temperature
HighLowAverage precipitation (inches)
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Lancaster 2NE Fltr Plt, PA US station (1.9 mi from campus).
What Pennsylvania College of Art and Design graduates study — and earn
Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.
Colleges similar to Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Pennsylvania College of Art and Design side by side →
Naropa University
Boulder, Colorado · Midsize city · 24 mi to Denver
- Students
- 339
- Admission
- 100%
- Net price
- $29k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $29k
Mitchell College
New London, Connecticut · Small city · 43 mi to Hartford
- Students
- 377
- Admission
- 95%
- Net price
- $30k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $39k
Herzing University-Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin · Small city · 32 mi to Milwaukee
- Students
- 522
- Admission
- 92%
- Net price
- $23k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $37k
Herzing University-Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia · Large city · < 1 mi to Atlanta
- Students
- 387
- Admission
- 94%
- Net price
- $22k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $37k
Columbia International University
Columbia, South Carolina · Midsize city · 6 mi to Columbia
- Students
- 716
- Admission
- 94%
- Net price
- $26k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $39k
Paine College
Augusta, Georgia · Midsize city · 1 mi to Augusta
- Students
- 388
- Admission
- 95%
- Net price
- $17k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $33k
Colleges near Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
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Lancaster, PA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 22 students
Champ's Barber School
Lancaster, PA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 62 students
Franklin and Marshall College
Lancaster, PA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,799 students
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology
Lancaster, PA · Public · Associate · 1,446 students
Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork
Lancaster, PA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 402 students
Empire Beauty School-Lancaster
Lancaster, PA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 85 students
Lancaster Bible College
Lancaster, PA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,569 students
Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster
Lancaster, PA · Private nonprofit · Associate · 1,280 students
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.












