by our College Data Analytics TeamPennsylvania College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit institution in Lancaster, Pennsylvania enrolling 400 undergraduates. It accepts 99% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 69%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #4,239 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 82%), 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.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design ranks #4,239 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 82%.
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.
College Factual ranked Pennsylvania College of Art and Design as #4,239 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design also holds the #232 spot on the Best Colleges in Pennsylvania ranking.
See all of the rankings for Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
With an acceptance rate of 99%, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.
Learn more about Pennsylvania College of Art and Design admissions.
At Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 10 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.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is 24%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design has a freshmen retention rate of 85%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design for first-time, full-time students is 69%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
The current enrollment includes 400 undergraduates at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
The overall average net price of Pennsylvania College of Art and Design 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $24,547 | $24,115 | $26,576 | $30,876 | $37,851 |
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 Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, 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 Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, approximately 69% of students took out student loans averaging $6,822 a year. That adds up to $27,288 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 5.3%. 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 Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design make around $33,301 per year during the early years of their employment. This is about 32% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design make the most money.
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design is an private not-for-profit institution located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lancaster is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Contact information for Pennsylvania College of Art and Design can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 204 N Prince St, Lancaster, PA 17603-0059 |
| Phone: | 8006890379 |
| Website: | www.pcad.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/PCAD.EDU?ref=ts |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/pcad_edu |
In the latest year of available data, students from 3 majors graduated from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. 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 | 45 | NA |
| Design & Applied Arts | 32 | NA |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 8 | NA |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 4 | NA |
| Graphic Communications | 1 | NA |
56 students took at least one online class at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
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 Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Curious how schools stack up against Pennsylvania College of Art and Design? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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.
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