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College profile

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington

PA · Public · Fringe rural · 643 applicants 2023

93% admit rate SAT 1030–1270 $18K–$27K/yr in-state — aid decides

A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 6× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$26,863/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$63,435/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 6 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • Worth asking: do students finish? Only 28% graduate within six years here — the standard federal measure. Ask what drives that: course availability, transfers out, students working long hours. Not finishing is the costliest outcome there is.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + your real net price. Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington starts already on the list. Start →
Odds at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington

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Live odds from each college's own published admissions data.

This college has announced it is closing

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington has announced that it will close — after Spring 2027. It is still teaching today, so the data below is real, but a student starting after that date could not finish here. Check directly with the college before applying.

“The University plans to close the following campuses after the spring 2027 semester: DuBois; Fayette; Mont Alto; New Kensington; Shenango; Wilkes-Barre; and York.” Source →

Parent/student verdict

Accessible

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable — net price averages ~$18,305/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$14,408 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Computer & Information Sciences (the two biggest majors)
  • Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience

The reality

  • You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1030, or ACT below 25 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor 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?

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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?

Undergraduates
416
Under 1,000 including graduate students
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$14,408
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$24,134
+$9,726 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
93.3%
Accepts the majority
SAT middle 50%The middle half of the enrolled first-years who sent this test scored in this range — a quarter of them scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. At a test-optional college the students who submitted are often a minority of the class, so the range describes them rather than everyone who enrolled. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1030–1270
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of the enrolled first-years who sent this test scored in this range — a quarter of them scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. At a test-optional college the students who submitted are often a minority of the class, so the range describes them rather than everyone who enrolled. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
25–27
composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$63,435
median, after entry

20% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 4% 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.

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).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$55,620
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$63,435
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
28%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$25,000

The real cost

What Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$18,305/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$26,863/yr
the full published price for in-state students — out-of-state runs higher

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington's Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
Start your Family Decision Report →

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

+$527K ahead at full price +$561K with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$107,452
~$26,863/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$73,220
$18,305/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$634,350
$63,435/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.7 yrs
at full price (1.2 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: 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 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
16 degrees · 30.8%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Computer & Information Sciences
13 degrees · 25.0%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
3. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
8 degrees · 15.4%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
4. Health Professions
8 degrees · 15.4%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
5. Engineering Technologies
7 degrees · 13.5%
Technician-track engineering roles. Strong wages, faster ramp than full engineer path.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Information Science/Studies. Bachelor's Degree 16 $66,209 $91,671
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 8 $77,955 $91,032
Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree 11 $65,043 $81,835
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other. Bachelor's Degree 5 $35,324 $81,617
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. Bachelor's Degree 3 $58,140 $73,308
Business/Commerce, General. Bachelor's Degree 7 $45,110 $65,292
Criminal Justice and Corrections. Bachelor's Degree 8 $37,240 $56,877
Communication and Media Studies. Bachelor's Degree 6 $34,181 $55,505
Psychology, General. Bachelor's Degree 8 $32,408 $49,543

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 →

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.

Top-1% access
1.4%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
1.8%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
30.2%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
32%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
United States Merchant Marine Academy
NY · Public
$9,168/yr full price (in-state) · $17,695 less before aid for NY residents
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $15,026 less before aid for IN residents
CUNY Hunter College
NY · Public
$13,905/yr full price (in-state) · $12,958 less before aid for NY residents
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington. That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · Public
12.9% mobility rate (vs 1.8% here)
CUNY City College
NY · Public
11.7% mobility rate (vs 1.8% here)
CUNY Lehman College
NY · Public
10.2% mobility rate (vs 1.8% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington is a public four-year college in PA. It admitted 93% of applicants (643 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1030–1270, ACT 25–27. 20% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 4% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.

Cost: about $18,305 a year on average with aid, $26,863 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: $561,130 ahead with aid, $526,898 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Information Science/Studies ($91,671); Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($91,032); Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians ($81,835).

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.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/pennsylvania-state-university-penn-state-new-kensington.json

By major: BiologyBusiness AdministrationCommunicationCriminal Justice and CriminologyInformation SystemsNursing (BSN)Psychology
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What families ask next

Can my kid get in? Score odds calculator → See how a higher SAT or ACT changes admit odds — college by college. What will it cost — and pay back? Earnings by major → What graduates actually earn, program by program. What do we do next? Free Family Decision Report Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely for every college on their list, plus the real cost. Start with a 10-second odds check — no email needed. Check odds →