-44%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design are 44% below the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($33.3k vs $59.5k).
Pennsylvania · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 312 undergraduate students. 4 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
9.6%
Debt-to-earnings
Debt-to-earnings ratio of 9.6% at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design exceeds the 8% gainful-employment threshold ($24.0k debt amortized over 10 years vs $33.3k earnings).
+23%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design rose 23% between 2006 and 2009 ($14.1k → $17.3k).
-14%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design fell 14% between 2006 and 2009 (49.0% → 42.3%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Pennsylvania
Each tile compares this institution to the Pennsylvania median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$33,301+41% · 6→10y
Pennsylvania median $49,859$23,638
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry63.8%-15% · '97→'09
Pennsylvania median 66.1%$23,980+181% · '97→'20
At program completion312+71% · '96→'09
latest IPEDS82.5%+37% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time45.9%+75% · '02→'24
latest cohort$31,370+226% · '00→'24
out-of-state $31,370SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
9.6%Median federal debt $23,980 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $33,301 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+37%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · retention rose
62.0% → 85.1%
+57%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · undergrad enrollment rose
160 → 274
+226%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · in-state tuition rose
$9,875 → $32,150
+75%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · out-of-state tuition rose
$9,875 → $17,280
+181%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · median debt rose
$9,625 → $27,000
-100%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · cohort default rate fell
2.8% → 0.0%
+57%
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design · pell share rose
30.1% → 47.4%
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
1 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS · CIP 50
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
-$358,764
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
—
Doesn’t reach breakeven within the horizon
- Cost per year
- $30,147
- HS-only baseline · PA
- $38,100
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 50
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Pennsylvania
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Pennsylvania College of Art and Design graduates earn $X” — not “Pennsylvania College of Art and Design makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Pennsylvania College of Art and Design caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.