Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
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Overview
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus is in a rural area that is a just a few miles from an urban area. It is in the State College PA area.
Highlights
Undergraduate program with the highest reported starting salary ($74K): Computer Engineering
Largest undergraduate program (166): Business/Commerce
Address
128 Outreach Building
University Park, PA 16802
worldcampus.psu.edu/
Additional links
SOURCES:
Accreditation:
caution
Institutional Control
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus is a public organization and is related to other schools.
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Accreditation
Accreditation provides important oversight over a school's instructional practices and institutional stability.
We cannot identify an accreditation record for Pennsylvania State University - World Campus. It is important for you to verify that this school is accredited before you attend.
Undergraduate Students
Not all students attend their first college full time to completion. While some schools are focused on those that population, many schools focus on transfer and or part time students. What types of of student does this school support.
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Part-time first-time students
Part-time transfer students
SOURCES:
Admissions
SAT/ACT Scores
This table offers a hint of how high your test scores might need to be if you attend. For reference, a quarter of attending students earned lower, and a quarter earned higher.
SAT TestMiddle 50%
ERW510 to 630
Math480 to 630
 
ACT TestMiddle 50%
Math19 to 27
Composite21 to 27
SOURCES:
Context: Average High School GPA
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus did not report the average high school GPA of it's students.
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Admissions Details
Here are some important dates and little tidbits. Please double-check this information on the Pennsylvania State University - World Campus's webpage for the most up-to-date and accurate answers! We update this information with each school's annual reporting, but information can change unexpectedly. Select any item to view the details.
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
Application Fee & Common App
Application Fee & Common App
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus has an undergraduate application fee of $65. We did not find Pennsylvania State University - World Campus on the Common Application site. Keep in mind that it never hurts to inquire with an Admissions office to see whether they might be willing to waive your application fee.
Credits accepted from new students
Credits accepted from new students
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus accepts the following credits:
  • Dual credit (college credit earned while in high school)
  • Credit for life experiences
  • Advanced placement (AP) credits
Percentage of applicants who are accepted
A low percentage here can indicate that a school is highly selective. We think this is one of the least important numbers for you to consider.
Selectivity can be misleading
You may have heard that a high rejection rate is an indicator of a good school. However, this number can be gamed, and some schools started gaming the system to perform better in college ratings books and sites. Ididio believes a combination of good outcomes (e.g. successful graduation rates and loan repayments) along with indicators of a well-prepared student body (e.g. test scores and high school records) are the best indicators of a good academic experience for those who attend. Our advice is that you don't pay too much attention to this number as you decide whether you might be admitted.
59%50%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
SOURCES:
Percentage of accepted students who choose to attend
This is called the yield, and it suggests whether this was a first-choice school or a back-up school for most applicants. Even the most prestigious Ivy League schools lose about a third of their accepted students come enrollment time.
40%44%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
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Programs
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus program offerings
What award level are you pursuing?
Bachelor's Degree
Select a degree to see the details, or use the sankey below to explore the options.
Select a degree
Order degrees by.
Program Size (Completions)
Pennsylvania State University - World CampusBusiness/CommercePsychologyRegistered NursingInformation ScienceOrganizational Behavior S...Computer and Information ...Criminal Justice and Safe...EconomicsFinanceSpecialized Public Relati...All other degreesTop 10 matching degrees
Business
Social Sciences
Healthcare
Quantitative/Technology
Community Services
Costs
Undergraduate out-of-state costs
Here's a quick summary of costs to attend Pennsylvania State University - World Campus. You will find the most up-to-date information at their website for admissions. The costs below are for out-of-state students, and you can switch by clicking the other button.
View
In-state
Out-of-state
Charge
Annual fees
Annual tuition
Estimated books and supplies
Miscellaneous (living off campus)
Miscellaneous (living with family)
Off-campus room and board
Per-credit charges
Cost
$504
$13,484
$1,840
$3,222
$1,854
$11,884
$555
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Net price: the best estimate for the cost to attend
Most schools publish tuition rates that give them room to offer both scholarships and financial aid where applicable. Your best estimate of what might pay is to see what others with similar family incomes have paid. A more tailored and accurate estimate is available at this school's net price calculator.
Understanding net price

With their net price calculators, many colleges and universities give an idea of what merit-based aid might accompany need-based aid. For schools that share such data, we also provide financial aid data in the Finanical Aid sections.

There are some caveats to consider when using the net price estimates:

  • The net price calculation is weighted by this school's proportion of students living on- and off-campus and this school's estimate of off-campus costs, which may cause the net price methodology be a bit inconsistent from school to school.
  • Parental income and student financial aid eligibility is sometimes more complicated than the simple family income number reported here.
  • The net price calculation for all students is inclusive of students who received any institutional or government aid, but at the family income levels the net price only considers the tuition paid by those who qualified for federal aid.

You can get a little better guess at what you would pay by using this school's net price calculator.

Percentage of students receiving any aid
The donut, based on 113 full-time first-time degree seeking students at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus, shows the percentage of those who received any financial aid (including merit-based scholarships), subdivided by family income.
67%
Aid type and family income
Federal: $0-30K
Federal: $30K-48K
Federal: $48K-75K
Federal: $75K-110K
Federal: Above $110K
Only institutional
Net price by family income
All Incomes
Let's look over the past few years at what in-state freshmen who received any financial aid actually paid for tuition, fees, books, and living expenses on average, and how that compares to the in-state tuition usually paid for other public universities in your context group.
201320142015201620172018$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000
Chart explanation
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
On the blue curve, we see how the net annual cost to attend Pennsylvania State University - World Campus has changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the net price for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Find your net price estimate: tuition.psu.edu/CostEstimate.aspx...
Not so much?
Financial Aid
Financial aid overview

Understanding the rules and process that determine who gets financial aid can be intimidating. Here are some quick links to help:

  • Visit Pennsylvania State University - World Campus's Net Price Calculator for the most accurate estimate of your anticipated costs. Every school publishes a Net Price Calculator that does its best to give you a fair estimate of what you might expect to pay. Many calculators consider your high school record as part of the calculation. This will be far more accurate than any of the averages or published tuition values that you see here.
  • FederalStudentAid, a government site that will walk you through the federal financial aid process. There are a number of kinds of student loans and other aid, and this site can walk you through all of the choices you will need to make.

Undergraduate Outcomes
Graduation Rate
Approximately 30% of undergraduate students were full-time with about 9% of them attending college for the first time. In the last reporting year, 37% of students, including those who were part-time or transfer students, received a degree within 8 years.
37%
Time to complete
4 years
6 years
8 years
Context: Graduation rate
These numbers reflect eight-year graduation rates for all degrees at the colleges and universities in your chosen context group. This reporting is for undergraduate students inclusive of transfer students and full/part-time students.
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Are students graduating on time?
Let us tell you all about low graduation rates!

Across the country, graduation rates are surprisingly low. In fact, Forbes Magazine suggests that they are unacceptably low. However, from another point of view, sometimes graduation rates simply reflect the relative preparation of the students who enter. Colleges with a mission to help people coming from less advantaged backgrounds, such as first-generation and low-income students, may have low graduation rates despite relatively strong outcomes for students who face many obstacles to success. Without the context provided in these views of completion rates, it can be tricky to separate predatory schools that take financial advantage of under-prepared students from those that are actively seeking to encourage and help those students.

For the consumer choosing a school, once you have narrowed your list to those schools that you can afford and that seem likely to admit you, consider the outcome measures in this section and choose the specific measures that best describe your plans. Very simply, schools with high graduation rates and high loan repayment rates will likely give you the best opportunity to succeed.

Context: the impact of wealth and transfer status on degree completion
We took a close look lagging success for students with financial need in a case study. Here's a chance to compare schools based on student successes with a better appreciation of how circumstances may impact success. One word of caution: the statistics for some categories may consist of only a handful of students -- see the details by hovering or long-pressing on the bars.
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Part-time first-time students
Part-time transfer students
Choose a student group
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Part-time first-time students
Part-time transfer students
Percentage with Pell Grants
64%
Years after enrolling.
4
6
8
Full-time first-time students who received an award within 8 years after enrolling
27%24%29%0%50%100%Non-PellPellAll
Context and trends: Repayment Rate
How much progress do you think you'll be able to make towards paying down your college loans seven years after leaving school? In our research, we discovered that a surprisingly large number of students don't default on their loans, but also aren't making progress in paying down their principal amount. The percentages here count alumni who have decreased their loan amounts by at least $1.
Years after leaving school.
7
5
3
201320142015201640%60%80%100%Former students with decreased loan principal
Chart explanation
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from Pennsylvania State University - World Campus who have successfully reduced their federal school loans by at least $1 by the date shown, which is 7 years after leaving the school.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the loan repayment rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Context and trends: are the loan default rates as small as possible?
The default rate is the percentage of students who are already delinquent on their loans within three years of leaving the school. If a school has a high default rate, that sends an alarm out that the students' educations are not sufficient to earn enough to repay those loans. Read below for details on the typical loan burden, and keep in mind that a low default rate may be more important than loan amounts in predicting your future success.
201420152016201720180%5%10%15%20%Former students with loan payment failure
Chart explanation
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from Pennsylvania State University - World Campus who have defaulted on their federal school loans within 3 years ending on the date shown.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the 3-year loan default rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Loan burden
At Pennsylvania State University - World Campus, 59% of full-time degree-seeking freshmen receive federal student loans, averaging $6,755 each in just the freshman year. We have much more details about the full loan burden students experience in our Cost and Financial Aid Section.
Context: Percentage of freshmen with federal loans
59%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Average freshman federal loan amount
$6,755$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000
Not so much?
Alumni earnings compared to same-aged Americans
The blue curve shows the earnings of this school's alumni -- so a high curve indicates this school is setting its students up for success!
More information about earnings data

How might your earnings compare with other people your age? Opportunity Insights used IRS data to track almost every person born in the US in the years 1980 to 1991, and they ranked the mean (average) 2014 earnings of students who attended Pennsylvania State University - World Campus in comparison to all people in the US the same age. Although this data is now a little old, the scope of this project was awesome and gives us a glimpse at alumni performance that we cannot find until a new study of this incredible magnitude is performed.

The Equality Project found that by age 34, people's relative earnings had leveled off, so it's a good assumption that approximately 67% of the population will earn less than Pennsylvania State University - World Campus alumni.

You might notice a little earnings dip at young ages for some of the top bachelor's institutions. This coincides with the years that many alumni may be in graduate school and earning less.

232425262728293031323334Approximate former student age4050607080Average earnings percentile
Chart explanation
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
In the blue curve, we see how the average earnings percentile for this school changes as its alumni age as compared to like-aged Americans without regard to their educational background.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of these average alumni earnings percentiles for context schools: dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools and light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Wealth mobility at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
We may wonder if, as a result of attending a given college, we will have a better chance for higher earnings. Opportunity Insights sought to answer this question by following the wealth story of every student for whom income information was available.
Learn more about the mobility study
How does wealth change after attendance?

Opportunity Insights studied groups of all children born in the US in the same year for each birth year from 1980 to 1991. This grouping included every single US child who had a valid SSN or ITIN (tax identification number) and could be linked to parents with non-negative income.

Family Income

The incomes of all families in a birth year group are measured when the child is 15-19 and these incomes are averaged. The calculated incomes from all families in the group were arranged from smallest to largest, and divided into five groups of equal size. On the left of the diagram, you can see the relative distribution of Pennsylvania State University - World Campus's students between the family income divided into fifths formed by looking at the entire US group.

Individual Student Earnings

In 2014, all people from the same birth year were divided into a new set of five groups that were determined by their individual labor earnings for that year. The students from this birth year who primarily attended Pennsylvania State University - World Campus between the ages of 19 and 22 were divided into these five groups, and the percent in each group is shown on the right of the diagram.

The diagram lets you see the proportion in each original income group who travel to each earnings group, and provides some insight into the likelihood of financial success after attendance.

If you'd like to understand the nitty gritty details of this interesting data, be sure to check out the well-written Opportunity Insights report by selecting SOURCES under the figure.

Below, we can see the percentage from each initial family wealth group who attend this college, and also the alumni's relative wealth later. Do students entering college from the bottom twenty percent of family income end up making it to a higher level? Do the top twenty percent stay at the top? Follow the colors, left to right, and see for yourself.
$24,300$45,100$72,900$110,300$900$18,500$35,200$55,800Lowest 20%Second-lowestMiddleSecond-highestHighest 20%Highest 20%Second-highestMiddleSecond-lowest Lowest 20%Family IncomeStudent Income
Classroom Experience
Student attention at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
Schools are required to report the ratio of students per instructor, but look for a small number of students for every full-time instructor as your best indicator of personal attention and a modern well-integrated curriculum.
1701020304050Full-time inst.Any inst.
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Full-time and long-term instructors at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus
Full-time faculty are mostly likely to be on campus and available for interaction, and to craft up-to-date courses and programs. Pennsylvania State University - World Campus has 100% full-time instructors, and 97% of the context schools have a lower percentage of full-time faculty. Faculty with multi-year contracts provide additional stability and commitment to the school and its students.Within the full-time instructors at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus, 100% have multi-year employment contracts. 93% of the context schools have a lower percentage of faculty with multi-year contracts.
Full-time instructors
100%
Long-term instructors
100%
SOURCES:
Not so much?
Faculty Diversity
Here's an opportunity to explore the faculty's diversity. For many schools, attracting a diverse teaching faculty can be a challenge. It's important to judge their success with the reality check of what their peer schools have accomplished.
Number of full-time instructors
The chart shows male instructors to the left, and female to the right, with the races/origins included along the bars. Select the context graph to see how this diversity profile compares to the schools that interest you.
White00.20.40.60.81Men00.20.40.60.81Women
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Housing
No Student Housing Available
This school does not report any housing for students.
SOURCES:
Activities and Services
Undergraduate services offered
  • Remedial services
  • Academic/career counseling services
SOURCES:
Programs for Veterans
If you are a veteran, it's worth digging around to find a military-friendly campus. We think this article about how colleges might help veterans might be a good starting point for questions to ask the Admissions office before you choose to attend. It's also good to be aware that many for-profit schools are behaving as predators, hungry for GI Bill dollars. Watching out for those schools is no different for veterans than for all students: judge very critically using our "Student Satisfaction and Success" tab for undergraduate programs. We wish we had the same data to support graduate programs; however, we think the undergraduate data is a good starting point for judging overall quality.
  • Credit for Military Training
  • Dedicated point of contact for support services for veterans, military servicemembers, and their families
  • Member of Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges
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Research
The library is the backbone of academic learning and research

We have no library data for Pennsylvania State University - World Campus in spite of the fact that about 90.50000000000001 of the degrees it awards are bachelor's or higher degrees. It is unusual for a school with this focus to not have library data. In fact, about 90% of the schools that graduate at least 10% of students at the bachelor's or higher level report library information.

In the age of digital resources, a library can offer incredible support even to distance education students. For students on campus, the library is the study and meeting hub for both residential and commuting students. Through the academic libraries, students can freely access resources not available on the internet.

It is difficult to imagine a meaningful bachelor's or graduate degree program that does not require independent research projects from its students. Without academic library resources, those projects could become quite expensive and also much more difficult, because academic librarians are indispensable for guiding students toward appropriate resources for a research project. The greater fear is that a lack of library means that minimal research and outside reading is expected of students. If you're interested in attending Pennsylvania State University - World Campus, you should ask about their library resources and research expectations, and make sure that you would be receiving the academic challenges and support that you and your future reputation deserve.

SOURCES:
Research funding: the best indicator of post-baccalaureate academic rigor
Any school that reports at least $150,000 in research and development expenditures in a given year should have submitted out the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey to the National Science Foundation (NSF). We did not find HERD data for $Pennsylvania State University - World Campus, so there would at most modest graduate-level academic scholarship campus-wide.
Student Body
Undergraduate Study Types
About 31% of undergraduate students are full-time. About 100% of undergraduate students take all of their courses via distance education, while another 0% take some courses online.
Undergraduate Full-time
31%
Undergraduate Online classes
100%
SOURCES:
Context: Student body size
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus enrolled 19,841 students over the past academic year. The the student body size is larger than 91% of the context schools.
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student gender
Is the gender balance of Pennsylvania State University - World Campus undergraduate students important to you? You can see the breakdown in this donut chart.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student race/origin
Pennsylvania State University - World Campus reports that 27% of undergraduate students are minority, which is near the middle of the context schools. Similarly, this school's 1.7% of international students is near the middle proportion of international students within the context schools.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Context: Gender Balance
It is very difficult for many types of schools to achieve a gender balance, and this context is valuable in evaluating the balance at Pennsylvania State University - World Campus.
49%52%20%40%60%80%MenWomen
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Context: Percentage of women
With 52% women undergraduate students, Pennsylvania State University - World Campus has a lower percentage of women than 73% of context schools.
SOURCES:
Context: Undergraduate student race/origin
Here is how Pennsylvania State University - World Campus compares to the rest of the context group in terms of diversity in the student race and origin.
7%68%11%4%0%0%4%4%2%0%20%40%60%80%100%Pacific IslanderAmerican IndianInternationalNot ReportedMultiracialAsianBlackHispanicWhite
Freshman residences

A high proportion of international and out-of-state students speaks to reputation and offers an opportunity for diverse interactions in and out of class.

Freshman residence
In-state
Out-of-state
International
Not Reported
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student age distribution
The age distribution at a school can tell you a lot about its mission. If you're looking for a traditional undergraduate experience, you may prefer to see students who are mostly younger than 25 (lighter shades), but if you want support as a returning student, a large number of students 25 and older (darker shades) may better suit your needs.
Age range
Under 18
18-19
20-21
22-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-49
50-64
65 and over
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