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Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Overview

Fair Price Value for Your Money
99% Acceptance Rate
6% Student Loan Default Rate

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks is a public institution in Reading, Pennsylvania enrolling 1,872 undergraduates. It accepts 99% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 32%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,358 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 26%), 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.

How Is Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Ranked?

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks ranks #1,358 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 26%.

#1,358 Best Colleges in Nation
#89 Best Colleges in PA
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks ranking badge

2027 Rankings

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.

Overall Quality

According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Penn State Berks is ranked #1,358 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

Penn State Berks also holds the #89 spot on the Best Colleges in Pennsylvania ranking.

See all of the rankings for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

Is It Hard to Get Into Pennsylvania State U-Penn State Berks?

99% Acceptance Rate
98% Of Accepted Are Women
25% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks has an acceptance rate of 99%, so it is easier to gain admission to this school than some others. Still, the admissions staff will examine your application closely to make sure you’re a good fit for Penn State Berks.

Average Test Scores

About 25% of students accepted to Penn State Berks 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 635.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks  ( 550 to 640 )
200
800
SAT Math Scores for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks  ( 540 to 635 )
200
800

Penn State Berks received ACT scores from 1% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 18 and 27.

ACT Composite Scores for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks  ( 18 to 27 )
1
36

Learn more about Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks?

13 to 1 Student to Faculty
70% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks is about average at 13 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.

The full-time faculty percentage at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks is 70%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  70 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks?

77% Freshmen Retention
32% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks has a freshmen retention rate of 77%. 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.

Freshmen Retention Rate  77 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

When it comes to finishing their studies on time, those seeking a bachelor’s degree from Penn State Berks have a four-year graduation rate of 32%. This is comparable to the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  32 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

How Diverse Is Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks?

1,872 Undergraduate Students
36.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
43.1% Percent Women

During the most recent academic year, there were 1,872 undergraduates at Penn State Berks.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

How Much Does Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
52% Take Out Loans
$24,544 Total Student Loans

The average net price of Penn State Berks 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.

Net Price by Income Group for Penn State Berks

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$16,429 $15,862 $23,583 $25,465 $29,541

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 Penn State Berks, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Penn State Berks, approximately 52% of students took out student loans averaging $6,136 a year. That adds up to $24,544 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.4%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

How Much Do Pennsylvania State U-Penn State Berks Graduates Earn?

$63,435 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State U-Penn State Berks make about $63,435 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That’s great news for Pennsylvania State U-Penn State Berks students since it is 29% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Average Salary for Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Graduates

See which majors at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks make the most money.

Where Is Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Located?

Pennsylvania State
1,872 Undergraduate Students
Suburb Campus Setting

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks is an public institution situated in Reading, Pennsylvania. Penn State Berks is located in a safe and convenient suburb. Get more details about the location of Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

Location of Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks

Contact details for Pennsylvania State U-Penn State Berks can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: Tulpehocken Road, Reading, PA 19610-1016
Phone: 6103966000
Website: berks.psu.edu/
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_Berks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pennstateberks
Twitter: twitter.com/PennStateBerks

What Majors Does Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Offer?

18 Majors With Completions
638 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 18 majors graduated from Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks. 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 319 NA
Business & Commerce 42 $42,079
Mechanical Engineering 32 $65,376
Information Technology 27 $65,214
General Psychology 25 $29,652
Electromechanical Engineering 21 NA
Health & Physical Education 19 $30,320
General Biology 18 $28,620
Biochemistry & Biophysics 16 $30,110
Computer Information Systems 16 $73,647

Learn more about the majors offered at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Does Penn State Berks Offer Online Classes?

47% Take At Least One Class Online
0% Take All Classes Online

883 students took at least one online class at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

Learn more about online learning at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.

Want to see how other colleges compare to Penn State Berks? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Notes and References

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.

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