Best Value Colleges in Pennsylvania
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Pennsylvania high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 80 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 1.1 years at the fastest to 28.3 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.7 years to repay its net price, 0.5 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (14) have a median payback of 3.6 years against 3.7 years for the 66 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Holy Family University ranks first at 1.1 years, ahead of University of Pennsylvania (1.3 years) and Carnegie Mellon University (1.3 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, 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)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Pennsylvania has 80
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- 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.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 80 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Holy Family University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.1 years | $13,143 | $82,892 | $25,125 | 61% |
| 2 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.3 years | $28,699 | $124,586 | $15,715 | 97% |
| 3 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.3 years | $31,944 | $132,971 | $21,750 | 93% |
| 4 | Gwynedd Mercy University Gwynedd Valley, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.1 years | $27,483 | $89,170 | $25,000 | 58% |
| 5 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $36,931 | $101,748 | $21,960 | 89% |
| 6 | Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $28,928 | $87,195 | $14,744 | 68% |
| 7 | Widener University Chester, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $25,759 | $80,946 | $27,000 | 66% |
| 8 | La Salle University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $19,409 | $70,254 | $25,000 | 58% |
| 9 | Cedar Crest College Allentown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.4 years | $18,659 | $67,546 | $27,000 | 59% |
| 10 | Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.5 years | $29,689 | $84,010 | $25,500 | 79% |
| 11 | York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.5 years | $18,556 | $65,789 | $26,000 | 62% |
| 12 | Lafayette College Easton, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.5 years | $34,433 | $91,758 | $16,000 | 88% |
| 13 | Villanova University Villanova, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $43,756 | $104,228 | $25,874 | 92% |
| 14 | Saint Francis University Loretto, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $23,526 | $73,068 | $27,000 | 74% |
| 15 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $40,766 | $96,035 | $27,000 | 86% |
| 16 | Robert Morris University Moon Township, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $23,003 | $70,755 | $26,950 | 66% |
| 17 | Carlow University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $20,786 | $67,381 | $25,500 | 58% |
| 18 | Immaculata University Immaculata, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $24,258 | $72,836 | $27,000 | 68% |
| 19 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $38,509 | $91,041 | $25,325 | 78% |
| 20 | Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA Public · 4-year | 2.8 years | $15,699 | $58,676 | $26,000 | 54% |
| 21 | University of Scranton Scranton, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $32,568 | $79,409 | $27,000 | 80% |
| 22 | King's College Wilkes-Barre, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $23,093 | $67,122 | $27,000 | 60% |
| 23 | Gannon University Erie, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $22,553 | $65,497 | $27,000 | 68% |
| 24 | Neumann University Aston, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $27,804 | $72,633 | $27,000 | 50% |
| 25 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $16,804 | $57,450 | $26,798 | 54% |
| 26 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.2 years | $23,149 | $65,618 | $17,500 | 93% |
| 27 | Waynesburg University Waynesburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.2 years | $18,235 | $59,019 | $27,000 | 63% |
| 28 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $32,875 | $76,659 | $25,000 | 86% |
| 29 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $30,434 | $73,701 | $24,250 | 85% |
| 30 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $23,331 | $64,804 | $23,500 | 70% |
| 31 | Pennsylvania College of Technology Williamsport, PA Public · 4-year | 3.4 years | $25,110 | $66,316 | $23,961 | 52% |
| 32 | DeSales University Center Valley, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $31,643 | $74,078 | $25,788 | 72% |
| 33 | Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $27,743 | $69,197 | $26,000 | 62% |
| 34 | Washington & Jefferson College Washington, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $25,002 | $66,045 | $27,000 | 70% |
| 35 | East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA Public · 4-year | 3.5 years | $18,134 | $56,971 | $24,218 | 44% |
| 36 | Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $31,490 | $72,658 | $26,999 | 83% |
| 37 | Mount Aloysius College Cresson, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $22,344 | $62,211 | $24,287 | 56% |
| 38 | Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $26,598 | $66,236 | $27,000 | 77% |
| 39 | Haverford College Haverford, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $25,314 | $64,523 | $13,621 | 90% |
| 40 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 4-year | 3.7 years | $28,198 | $67,232 | $24,395 | 75% |
| 41 | Mercyhurst University Erie, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $19,444 | $57,293 | $25,305 | 59% |
| 42 | Alvernia University Reading, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $28,138 | $67,275 | $27,000 | 57% |
| 43 | Lycoming College Williamsport, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $19,140 | $57,353 | $27,000 | 60% |
| 44 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA Public · 4-year | 3.8 years | $19,608 | $57,301 | $25,000 | 66% |
| 45 | Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $36,425 | $74,391 | $19,000 | 85% |
| 46 | Albright College Reading, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $20,024 | $57,502 | $27,000 | 47% |
| 47 | La Roche University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.9 years | $20,794 | $57,880 | $25,000 | 57% |
| 48 | Pennsylvania Western University California, PA Public · 4-year | 4.0 years | $18,256 | $54,553 | $23,725 | 51% |
| 49 | Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA Public · 4-year | 4.0 years | $20,787 | $57,515 | $23,507 | 56% |
| 50 | Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.0 years | $37,730 | $74,665 | $26,244 | 77% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
Guides worth reading first
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Same list in nearby states
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All 147 colleges in Pennsylvania See the national version of this ranking