Most Affordable Private Colleges in Pennsylvania
Private nonprofit colleges rarely cost what their price tags say. Among the 70 we rank in Pennsylvania, the average net price runs from $12,148 to $43,756 a year, a range of $31,608.
The median net price is $26,222, $2,362 (10%) above the national median of $23,860 for private nonprofit colleges. Median tuition and fees are $44,050, but the median net price, which also counts room, board and books after grants, is $26,222, so aid more than covers the housing and living costs added on top of tuition.
Peirce College ranks first at $12,148, ahead of Holy Family University ($13,143) and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology ($15,376).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Private nonprofit 4-year colleges whose main award is the bachelor's degree
- Ranked by net price, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Pennsylvania
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported net price value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Pennsylvania has 70
- Data period
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Tuition and fees: full-time undergraduate sticker price, academic year 2024-25 (the same for in-state and out-of-state students).
- Net price by income: students with family income of $0 to $30,000, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 70 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Peirce College Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $12,148 | $15,060 | — | 6% | $58,509 |
| 2 | Holy Family University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $13,143 | $35,330 | $9,721 | 61% | $82,892 |
| 3 | Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Harrisburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $15,376 | $24,400 | $12,637 | 39% | $55,281 |
| 4 | Waynesburg University Waynesburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $18,235 | $30,480 | $12,916 | 63% | $59,019 |
| 5 | York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $18,556 | $25,588 | $12,927 | 62% | $65,789 |
| 6 | Cedar Crest College Allentown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $18,659 | $46,314 | $21,044 | 59% | $67,546 |
| 7 | Lycoming College Williamsport, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,140 | $50,029 | $12,151 | 60% | $57,353 |
| 8 | La Salle University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,409 | $37,800 | $16,545 | 58% | $70,254 |
| 9 | Mercyhurst University Erie, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,444 | $45,770 | $22,626 | 59% | $57,293 |
| 10 | Westminster College (PA) New Wilmington, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,859 | $40,290 | $15,226 | 65% | $54,065 |
| 11 | Lackawanna College Scranton, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $19,951 | $18,400 | $18,142 | 37% | $45,609 |
| 12 | Albright College Reading, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $20,024 | $29,082 | $16,345 | 47% | $57,502 |
| 13 | Carlow University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $20,786 | $35,874 | $17,901 | 58% | $67,381 |
| 14 | La Roche University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $20,794 | $34,052 | $16,152 | 57% | $57,880 |
| 15 | Wilson College Chambersburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $21,741 | $27,100 | $14,808 | 50% | $54,180 |
| 16 | Keystone College La Plume, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,051 | $18,300 | $21,925 | 38% | $46,043 |
| 17 | Seton Hill University Greensburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,204 | $42,944 | $15,143 | 69% | $53,942 |
| 18 | Mount Aloysius College Cresson, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,344 | $27,072 | $21,530 | 56% | $62,211 |
| 19 | Thiel College Greenville, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,347 | $38,344 | $17,247 | 46% | $51,262 |
| 20 | Gannon University Erie, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,553 | $40,656 | $18,489 | 68% | $65,497 |
| 21 | Allegheny College Meadville, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,940 | $56,550 | $18,495 | 70% | $56,294 |
| 22 | Robert Morris University Moon Township, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,003 | $35,970 | $19,548 | 66% | $70,755 |
| 23 | King's College Wilkes-Barre, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,093 | $44,100 | $17,283 | 60% | $67,122 |
| 24 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,149 | $65,494 | $7,690 | 93% | $65,618 |
| 25 | Marywood University Scranton, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,388 | $41,420 | $18,941 | 72% | $60,125 |
| 26 | Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,510 | $42,396 | $17,249 | 70% | $56,796 |
| 27 | Saint Francis University Loretto, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,526 | $44,000 | $21,906 | 74% | $73,068 |
| 28 | Juniata College Huntingdon, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $23,988 | $58,580 | $18,729 | 71% | $55,079 |
| 29 | Immaculata University Immaculata, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $24,258 | $29,330 | $20,539 | 68% | $72,836 |
| 30 | Washington & Jefferson College Washington, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,002 | $29,392 | $15,265 | 70% | $66,045 |
| 31 | Haverford College Haverford, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,314 | $70,688 | $7,531 | 90% | $64,523 |
| 32 | Lancaster Bible College Lancaster, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,480 | $29,990 | $24,486 | 69% | $44,774 |
| 33 | Widener University Chester, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,759 | $55,730 | $21,200 | 66% | $80,946 |
| 34 | Geneva College Beaver Falls, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,890 | $33,450 | $20,283 | 61% | $53,795 |
| 35 | Point Park University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $25,942 | $39,570 | $22,436 | 59% | $53,024 |
| 36 | Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,502 | $42,240 | $19,393 | 77% | $58,620 |
| 37 | Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,598 | $37,950 | $17,776 | 77% | $66,236 |
| 38 | Eastern University Saint Davids, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,662 | $38,400 | $26,557 | 55% | $54,681 |
| 39 | Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,979 | $52,080 | $20,788 | 69% | $63,570 |
| 40 | Gwynedd Mercy University Gwynedd Valley, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,483 | $40,122 | $21,995 | 58% | $89,170 |
| 41 | Cairn University-Langhorne Langhorne, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,642 | $34,009 | $24,029 | 62% | $48,513 |
| 42 | Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,743 | $43,496 | $25,062 | 62% | $69,197 |
| 43 | Neumann University Aston, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,804 | $39,100 | $24,467 | 50% | $72,633 |
| 44 | Chestnut Hill College Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $27,970 | $39,870 | $28,011 | 53% | $55,964 |
| 45 | Alvernia University Reading, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,138 | $45,000 | $23,436 | 57% | $67,275 |
| 46 | Delaware Valley University Doylestown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,278 | $44,850 | $21,896 | 54% | $54,681 |
| 47 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,699 | $68,686 | — | 97% | $124,586 |
| 48 | Susquehanna University Selinsgrove, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,819 | $59,850 | $19,757 | 78% | $58,506 |
| 49 | Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,905 | $62,805 | $12,302 | 81% | $65,650 |
| 50 | Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,928 | $47,505 | $22,537 | 68% | $87,195 |
How to compare these colleges
Do not rule out a private college because of its sticker price. Private colleges often discount heavily, and the net price shown here is what students who receive aid pay on average, including housing and books. Your own offer depends on your family income and the school's aid policy, so run each college's net price calculator and compare actual award letters.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Pennsylvania
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Same list in nearby states
Most affordable private colleges in New York
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Most affordable private colleges in Ohio
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Most affordable private colleges in California
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All 147 colleges in Pennsylvania See the national version of this ranking