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🎓 College profile

York College of Pennsylvania

PA · Private nonprofit · Mid-size suburb · 4,933 applicants 2023

94% admit rate SAT 1030–1230 $22,196/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 4× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full ~$37,319/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$61,012/yr) still runs about 4× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything.
  • 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.

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🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Heavy discounting — aid recipients average ~$18,556/yr net; strong students should also check the merit grid.

✅ Best for

  • Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
  • Students drawn to Health Professions or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)
  • Families wanting a small undergraduate experience

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1030, or ACT below 22, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M3: Master's - Smaller Programs
Total enrollment
3,265
1,000 - 4,999
TuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$25,588
flat rate (no in/out-of-state split)
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.
94.2%
Accepts the majority
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1030–1230
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
22–28
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.
$61,012
median, after entry

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
$50,940
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.
$61,012
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
64%
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."
$26,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $22,196/yr at York College of Pennsylvania; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$37,319/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

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Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with York College of Pennsylvania's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$22,196/yr
Family income $75-110k
$17,799/yr
Family income $48-75k
$17,024/yr
Family income $30-48k
$14,581/yr
Family income $0-30k
$12,927/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

4.1× at full price 8.2× 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)
$149,276
~$37,319/yr all-in
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$74,224
$18,556/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$610,120
$61,012/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
2.4 yrs
at full price (1.2 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at York College of Pennsylvania

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what York College of Pennsylvania actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Health Professions
193 degrees · 39.3%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
2. Business, Management, & Marketing
125 degrees · 25.5%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
3. Engineering
81 degrees · 16.5%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
4. Education
53 degrees · 10.8%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, & Firefighting
39 degrees · 7.9%
Public-sector careers in law enforcement, corrections, security. Strong pensions, modest base.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — York College of Pennsylvania's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 7 — $103,354
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 9 $67,310 $100,044
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 145 $77,469 $91,052
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 44 $74,445 $89,995
Finance and Financial Management Services. Bachelor's Degree 12 $46,890 $79,444
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. Bachelor's Degree 9 $67,814 $77,358
Management Information Systems and Services. Bachelor's Degree 7 $44,936 $77,328
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 55 $54,054 $69,548
Marketing. Bachelor's Degree 32 $46,326 $69,407
Biology, General. Bachelor's Degree 44 $37,110 $67,444

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 →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at York College of Pennsylvania

CS degrees (annual)
17
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to York College of Pennsylvania

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) · $28,151 less before aid
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $25,482 less before aid
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $23,363 less before aid

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