---
title: Pennsylvania College of Art and Design — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Lancaster, PA
control: Private nonprofit
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Pennsylvania College of Art and Design

Lancaster, PA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $33,301 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $15,518 – $49,235 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $23,980 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $8,750 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 69% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $43,815 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 52% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.72× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $5,301 | derived |

**69% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $23,980 (≈ 72% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore Pennsylvania College of Art and Design by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?215053

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/pennsylvania-college-of-art-and-design-pa.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`