College profile
Penn State (University Park)
Listed in federal data as “Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus”.
PA · Public · Small city · 85,956 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Downingtown HS West Campus (36), Syosset Senior High School (21), Malvern Preparatory School (15), Germantown Academy (8.8), Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (7.6). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 141 high schools' lists name Penn State (University Park); every one is ranked below.
- Built for the AI economy. Top 16 in the country. About 1 in 11 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; it offers a dedicated AI major; its AI research output ranks #16 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer and Information Sciences grads from here earn about $120,729 four years out; fine and studio arts grads about $40,036 — a 3.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- There is merit money here, but you compete for it. Every named award at this college is competitive — the published GPA and score figures describe who tends to win them, not a bar that guarantees anything. Worth applying for; not worth counting on when you budget.
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Penn State (University Park)?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Penn State (University Park), from each school's own published list: Downingtown HS West Campus (36), Syosset Senior High School (21), Malvern Preparatory School (15), Germantown Academy (8.8), Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (7.6). 141 high schools' lists name Penn State (University Park).
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 141 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Penn State (University Park) on a list of where their graduates enrolled whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: Garrison Forest School (1, Three-Year Survey).
How this is counted
141 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Penn State (University Park) on it. Between them they printed 726 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Penn State (University Park), from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 26 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Penn State (University Park) on a list of the colleges that admitted their graduates whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: Seven Lakes High School (12, not stated).
How this is counted
26 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Penn State (University Park) on it. Between them they printed 440 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Penn State (University Park), from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 163 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students.
Best for
- Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
- Strong test/GPA students chasing merit aid — Schreyer Honors Scholarship on offer (see merit-scholarship tab below)
- Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Engineering (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
- Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1220, or ACT below 27, or unweighted GPA below 3.64 (test bands are the school's own; the 3.64 line is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
33% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
High-school GPA
3.84 avg unweightedGPA on the plain 4.0 scale, no honors/AP bonus. When a college publishes an "average admitted GPA of 3.9," it's often this scale — don't compare it to a weighted 4.3. GPA, enrolled first-years
unweighted 4.0 scale. Penn State Common Data Set 2024-2025 (University Park) ↗
As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2024-25) — independently verified 2026-07-23 (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Penn State (University Park) actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Penn State (University Park)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$476K ahead at full price +$503K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Penn State (University Park)
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Penn State (University Park) actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Penn State (University Park)'s own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $120,729 |
| Petroleum Engineering. | $113,669 |
| Computer Engineering. | $112,269 |
| Industrial Engineering. | $104,758 |
| Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other. | $104,205 |
| Chemical Engineering. | $103,728 |
| Engineering, Other. | $102,134 |
| Computer Science. | $101,854 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | $100,416 |
| Engineering Science. | $100,176 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Merit aidScholarship money awarded for grades or test scores, not financial need — at many colleges it's automatic at certain GPA/score levels.
What your test score unlocks at Penn State (University Park)
Score-or-merit-based scholarships published by the institution. Stackable in most cases — confirm with the financial aid office.
| Award | Annual award | Score gate |
|---|---|---|
|
Schreyer Honors Scholarship
Schreyer Honors · any
|
$5,000/yr as published, checked 2026-06-06 · source ↗ |
— |
See all merit scholarships across colleges + 13 national awards on /merit-scholarships →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
Alternatives to Penn State (University Park)
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Penn State (University Park)?
Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Penn State (University Park) and every other college on your list.
Get your child's odds at Penn State (University Park) →Related reading
College admissions · October 2026
College applications · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantPenn State (University Park) is a public four-year college in PA. It admitted 54% of applicants (85,956 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1220–1400, ACT 27–32. 33% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class. Average enrolled GPA 3.84 (unweighted, 2024-25, as published by the college).
Cost: about $32,875 a year on average with aid, $39,694 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $63,435 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $502,850 ahead with aid, $475,574 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($120,729); Petroleum Engineering ($113,669); Computer Engineering ($112,269).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 6% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 30% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Penn State (University Park): 141, 726 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Downingtown HS West Campus (36.0 per class year, 36 over 1 class year, Class of 2024); Syosset Senior High School (21.0 per class year, 21 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Malvern Preparatory School (15.0 per class year, 60 over 4 class years, Classes of 2022-2025). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/pennsylvania-state-university-main-campus.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Penn State (University Park): 26, 440 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Millburn High School (74.0 per class year, 74 over 1 class year, Class of 2025, counted column "ACC=Accepted"); Mira Costa High School (68.0 per class year, 68 over 1 class year, 2022-2026 College Admission Data, counted column "The first column represents the number of students admitted from the Class of 2026"); Chaminade College Preparatory (37.0 per class year, 37 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/pennsylvania-state-university-main-campus.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/pennsylvania-state-university-main-campus.json
Questions families ask
What is Penn State (University Park)'s acceptance rate? Penn State (University Park) is a public four-year college in PA. It admitted 54% of applicants (85,956 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Does Penn State (University Park) require the SAT or ACT? Penn State (University Park) is a public four-year college in PA. It admitted 54% of applicants (85,956 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
What SAT or ACT scores do Penn State (University Park) students have? Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1220–1400, ACT 27–32. 33% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class. Average enrolled GPA 3.84 (unweighted, 2024-25, as published by the college).
How much does Penn State (University Park) cost? Cost: about $32,875 a year on average with aid, $39,694 a year at full price for in-state students.
What do Penn State (University Park) graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $63,435 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $502,850 ahead with aid, $475,574 ahead at full price.
Which majors at Penn State (University Park) pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($120,729); Petroleum Engineering ($113,669); Computer Engineering ($112,269).
Which high schools send the most graduates to Penn State (University Park)? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Penn State (University Park), from each school's own published list: Downingtown HS West Campus (36), Syosset Senior High School (21), Malvern Preparatory School (15), Germantown Academy (8.8), Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (7.6). 141 high schools' lists name Penn State (University Park).
+56 more programs
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.