University Park, PA
Penn State was founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania and in 1863 was designated the Commonwealth's sole land-grant institution by an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The university operates multiple campuses today along with an online World Campus, and its professional schools include Penn State Dickinson Law and the College of Medicine. Its student body also runs THON, described by the university as the world's largest student-run philanthropy.
Admissions
Test scores for the Fall 2025 entering class come from Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own 2025-26 Common Data Set: 29% submitted SAT scores, 5% submitted ACT scores.
Cost & outcomes
Out-of-state students pay $23,696 more per year in tuition and fees (2.1x the in-state rate).
Rate for freshmen and sophomores; juniors and seniors in science, IST and engineering programs pay more.
Tuition & fees are Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own published 2026-27 rates (source); other figures are from the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, most recent year reported. Tuition & fees are the sticker price for a full-time first-year undergrad, before financial aid, and don't include room and board.
Where do you stand against Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's numbers?
Check your chances hereHow Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus weighs your application
From Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own Common Data Set, 2025-26, Section C7 -- not a generic admissions checklist. What is a Common Data Set?
What admitted applicants who posted their results listed
40 admitted applicants who posted their profiles publicly, 2024–25 and 2025–26 admissions cycles. Too few rejected or waitlisted applicants have posted to compare, so every figure here describes admits only. It shows what admitted posters looked like, not what made the difference.
Most common activities among admits
Most common awards among admits
Who the admitted posters were
How this compares across big public universities: Big Public University Accepted vs. Rejected Applicants →
These are people who chose to post their results publicly, mostly on Reddit -- a group that skews toward high scores and STEM. They describe posters, not Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's admitted class, and recruited athletes are left out. Expect these medians to run above the school's real admitted class. For official numbers, use the admissions figures above.
See full profile -- financial aid, campus life, and what Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus weighs in your application
Paying it back
"Still growing" means a borrower's payments aren't yet covering interest 3 years into repayment -- not a default rate. A high number here can mean real repayment difficulty, or just a lot of grads who deferred for graduate school, so read it alongside the school's typical outcomes above.
Majors & earnings
Median earnings 4 years after graduation, by major, from the US Dept of Education. Only shown where the school reports a real figure for that major -- most schools don't report every major they offer, especially smaller programs.
Campus life
Room and board are shown separately from the cost of attendance above -- that total already includes them alongside tuition and fees, this just breaks out the living-cost portion.
What matters in your application
From this school's own reporting to the US Dept of Education on what it formally requires, considers, or doesn't use when reviewing applications.
Frequently asked questions
What does Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus look for in applicants?
Per Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own Common Data Set (Section C7), it rates academic GPA as "very important" in admissions decisions -- its own stated top factors, not a generic guess.
What is Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's acceptance rate?
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus in University Park, PA admits approximately 61% of applicants, based on the US Dept of Education's most recently reported figures.
What SAT score do I need for Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus?
Per Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own 2025-26 Common Data Set, the middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored 1280–1410 on the SAT (25th–75th percentile, among students who submitted scores).
What ACT score do I need for Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus?
Per Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's own 2025-26 Common Data Set, the middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored 28–32 on the ACT (25th–75th percentile, among students who submitted scores).
How much does Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus cost?
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's total cost of attendance is reported at $39,694 per year, including tuition, fees, and room and board.
What is out-of-state tuition at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus?
For 2026-27, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's tuition and required fees are $45,214 for out-of-state students and $21,518 for in-state students -- $23,696 more per year for out-of-state students. That's before financial aid, and room and board are extra.
Does Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus require students to live on campus?
No -- Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus doesn't require students to live in on-campus housing.
Related reading
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