DeSales University is a private not-for-profit institution in Center Valley, Pennsylvania enrolling 2,128 undergraduates. It accepts 77% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 72%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #595 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 12%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
DeSales University ranks #595 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 12%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
DeSales University was awarded 12 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked DeSales as #595 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, DeSales holds the #41 spot on the Best Colleges in Pennsylvania ranking.
See all of the rankings for DeSales University.
DeSales University has an acceptance rate of 77%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 25% of students accepted to DeSales submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 550 and 640. Math scores were between 540 and 620.
DeSales received ACT scores from 1% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 27 and 28.
Learn more about DeSales University admissions.
At DeSales, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 12 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at DeSales University is 41%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 83% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like DeSales University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at DeSales for first-time, full-time students is 72%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at DeSales University.
In the current academic year, there are 2,128 undergraduates at DeSales.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at DeSales University.
The typical net cost at DeSales is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $24,007 | $25,400 | $26,096 | $29,982 | $34,878 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of DeSales, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At DeSales, approximately 64% of students took out student loans averaging $6,749 a year. That adds up to $26,996 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for DeSales University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from DeSales University make around $61,295 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future DeSales University graduates since it is 25% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at DeSales University make the most money.
DeSales University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Center Valley is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs. Get more details about the location of DeSales University.
Get in touch with DeSales University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley, PA 18034-9568 |
| Phone: | 6102821100 |
| Website: | www.desales.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSales_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/desalesuniversity |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/desales |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 20 majors graduated from DeSales University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 890 | NA |
| Nursing | 132 | $76,441 |
| Business Administration & Management | 108 | $66,160 |
| Allied Health Professions | 73 | $106,682 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 53 | NA |
| General Biology | 41 | $39,040 |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 38 | $33,883 |
| Health/Medical Prep Programs | 37 | NA |
| General Psychology | 31 | $36,549 |
| Accounting | 30 | $47,378 |
722 students took at least one online class at DeSales University.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at DeSales University.
Interested in comparing DeSales? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.