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Best Colleges in Pennsylvania

Top Pennsylvania colleges ranked by what actually matters after graduation: earnings, completion rates, and what you actually pay. Federal data. No surveys, no sponsorships.

10
Schools in ranking
117
Pennsylvania schools in dataset
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How We Rank Pennsylvania Colleges

Rankings use a composite score from federal data: graduate earnings (28%), graduation rate (25%), social mobility via Pell Grant share (20%), debt burden (15%), and net cost for low-income students (12%). Where a school has not reported one of these, that component is dropped and the remaining weights are rescaled rather than filled in with an estimate. Two adjustments apply: the earnings component is reduced by 13% for schools where graduate students are more than 20% of enrollment and by 25% where they are more than 30%, and a school with no net price on file for families earning up to $30,000 is scored on its overall average net price instead. Only 4-year non-profit schools with sufficient data qualify.

  • →Earnings: Median annual earnings 10 years after enrollment. Source: College Scorecard.
  • →Graduation rate: Full-time first-time students completing within 150% of normal time. Source: IPEDS.
  • →Net price: Average annual cost after all grants and scholarships. Source: IPEDS.
  • →Social mobility: Share of students receiving Pell Grants, a direct measure of access for low-income students. Source: IPEDS.
  • →Debt burden: Median federal loan debt at graduation. Source: College Scorecard.

Top 10 Colleges in Pennsylvania (2026)

Ranked by composite: earnings, graduation rate, social mobility, debt, affordability.

#SchoolEarnings (10yr)
1
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

$111,371
2
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

$114,862
3
Haverford College
Haverford College

Haverford, PA

$79,966
4
Lehigh University
Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA

$105,584
5
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

$80,257
6
Lafayette College
Lafayette College

Easton, PA

$91,410
7
Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, PA

$77,449
8
Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster
Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster

Lancaster, PA

$69,731
9
Franklin and Marshall College

Lancaster, PA

$76,124
10
Bucknell University
Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA

$93,807

117 Pennsylvania schools in dataset. Top 10 shown. Data: IPEDS + College Scorecard. Updated annually.

All 117 Colleges in the Dataset

The ranking above shows the top 10 by composite score. Every school in the full dataset is listed here so you can explore beyond the top results.

A

4
Albright CollegeAllegheny CollegeAlvernia UniversityArcadia University

B

3
Bryn Athyn College of the New ChurchBryn Mawr CollegeBucknell University

C

8
Cairn University-LanghorneCarlow UniversityCarnegie Mellon UniversityCedar Crest CollegeChatham UniversityChestnut Hill CollegeCheyney University of PennsylvaniaCommonwealth University of Pennsylvania

D

5
Delaware Valley UniversityDeSales UniversityDickinson CollegeDrexel UniversityDuquesne University

E

3
East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEastern UniversityElizabethtown College

F

1
Franklin and Marshall College

G

4
Gannon UniversityGeneva CollegeGettysburg CollegeGwynedd Mercy University

H

3
Harrisburg University of Science and TechnologyHaverford CollegeHoly Family University

I

2
Immaculata UniversityIndiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus

J

1
Juniata College

K

3
Keystone CollegeKing's CollegeKutztown University of Pennsylvania

L

9
La Roche UniversityLa Salle UniversityLackawanna CollegeLafayette CollegeLancaster Bible CollegeLebanon Valley CollegeLehigh UniversityLincoln UniversityLycoming College

M

10
Manor CollegeMarywood UniversityMercyhurst UniversityMessiah UniversityMillersville University of PennsylvaniaMisericordia UniversityMoore College of Art and DesignMoravian UniversityMount Aloysius CollegeMuhlenberg College

N

1
Neumann University

P

28
Peirce CollegePennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania College of Art and DesignPennsylvania College of TechnologyPennsylvania Institute of TechnologyPennsylvania State University-Main CampusPennsylvania State University-Penn State AbingtonPennsylvania State University-Penn State AltoonaPennsylvania State University-Penn State BeaverPennsylvania State University-Penn State BerksPennsylvania State University-Penn State BrandywinePennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBoisPennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend CollegePennsylvania State University-Penn State Fayette- EberlyPennsylvania State University-Penn State Greater AlleghenyPennsylvania State University-Penn State HarrisburgPennsylvania State University-Penn State HazletonPennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh ValleyPennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont AltoPennsylvania State University-Penn State New KensingtonPennsylvania State University-Penn State SchuylkillPennsylvania State University-Penn State ScrantonPennsylvania State University-Penn State ShenangoPennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-BarrePennsylvania State University-Penn State YorkPennsylvania State University-World CampusPennsylvania Western UniversityPoint Park University

R

2
Robert Morris UniversityRosemont College

S

10
Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary-OverbrookSaint Francis UniversitySaint Joseph's University - LancasterSaint Joseph's University - PhiladelphiaSaint Vincent CollegeSeton Hill UniversityShippensburg University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSusquehanna UniversitySwarthmore College

T

3
Temple UniversityThiel CollegeThomas Jefferson University

U

8
University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pittsburgh-BradfordUniversity of Pittsburgh-GreensburgUniversity of Pittsburgh-JohnstownUniversity of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh CampusUniversity of ScrantonUniversity of Valley ForgeUrsinus College

V

1
Villanova University

W

7
Washington & Jefferson CollegeWaynesburg UniversityWest Chester University of PennsylvaniaWestminster CollegeWidener UniversityWilkes UniversityWilson College

Y

1
York College of Pennsylvania

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