What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$0 to $55,972 a year, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $89,028 a year. Average need-based aid package: $73,338.Aid and debt
$33,655
average debt at graduation
Not reported by this school: share receiving need-based grants, merit aid.
Getting In
Admit rates
4.9%
admitted overall
13.3%
admitted Early Decision
3.7%
admitted Regular Decision
Early Decision
Early Decision applicants were admitted at more than 4x the Regular Decision rate, and Early Decision is binding: you commit to attend if admitted.
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Some of that gap reflects who applies early (recruited athletes, legacy applicants and highly committed students concentrate in that pool), so it isn't proof that applying early would raise any one student's own odds.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% by section: Reading 740–770 · Math 770–800. No combined range is published.
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 34–35 · 18% of the class submitted
92% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Character
- Important
- Class rank
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Not considered
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
UPenn rates course rigor, your essay, and your recommendations as Very Important, and your activities as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. The essay is weighted like your GPA. Choose recommenders who can be specific about you, not just confirm your transcript. And depth and leadership in a few activities matter more than a long list.
UPenn doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
UPenn just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-UPenn essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
58.3% of UPenn classes have fewer than 20 students.
58.3%
under 20 students
22.9%
20 to 49
18.8%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. UPenn CDS 2025–26, I-3.
10:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
71.9%
first-years from out of state
56%
live on campus
19%
of men in fraternities
17%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- Asian28.3%
- White25.3%
- Hispanic10.7%
- Black9%
- Unknown / other7.2%
- Multiracial5.3%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. UPenn CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
86.2% of UPenn students graduate in 4 years.
86.2%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
96.9%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
98.6%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
94.8% finish in 6 years, against 96.9% of all students.
Pell Grant students finish at about the same rate as everyone else.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Philadelphia.
Penn sits in University City in West Philadelphia, its campus running right into a major city rather than sitting apart from one.
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Philadelphia is a full big city — a downtown of its own, a dense restaurant and BYOB scene, cheesesteaks and a historic core — and it's roughly midway on the Amtrak line between New York and Washington, so both are easy day or weekend trips from a station a short ride from campus.
The City
Major city
Philadelphia, PA
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Elon Musk
Founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, he earned a dual degree at Penn in 1997 — a B.A. in physics from the College of Arts & Sciences and a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School.
Class of 1997
John Legend
EGOT-winning singer and songwriter (born John Stephens), he graduated magna cum laude in English in 1999 and later returned to give Penn's commencement address.
Class of 1999
Noam Chomsky
The linguist and cognitive scientist who reshaped the study of language earned all three of his degrees at Penn — a B.A. (1949), M.A. (1951) and Ph.D. in linguistics (1955).
Class of 1955
Elizabeth Banks
Actor, director and producer (The Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect), she graduated magna cum laude in communications in 1996 and is listed by Penn Alumni as “Elizabeth Banks, C'96.”
Class of 1996
Sundar Pichai
CEO of Google and its parent Alphabet, he earned his MBA at Penn's Wharton School in 2002 as a Palmer Scholar.
Class of 2002
Chuck Bednarik
Pro Football Hall of Famer and the NFL's last full-time two-way player, “Concrete Charlie” was a three-time All-American at Penn and won the 1948 Maxwell Award before graduating in physical education in 1949.
Class of 1949
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Hey Day
Juniors mark their move into senior year by marching down Locust Walk in straw hats, biting on wooden canes — a Penn rite that dates to the early 20th century.
The Button
Claes Oldenburg's 16-foot split-button sculpture in front of Van Pelt Library, installed in 1982, is a campus landmark and a standing meeting spot wrapped in student lore.
The Penn Relays
Held at Franklin Field every April since 1895, the oldest and largest track-and-field relay carnival in the United States, drawing thousands of athletes to campus.
Locust Walk
The tree-lined pedestrian spine that runs through the middle of campus, lined with fraternity houses, dining and student groups — the center of daily undergraduate life and the route of the Hey Day procession.
Weekend escapes from Philadelphia
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Philadelphia
New York City
About 1 hour 15 minutes by AmtrakA straight shot up the Northeast Corridor from 30th Street Station into Manhattan — close enough to be a regular weekend rather than a special trip.
Washington, D.C.
About 1 hour 45 minutes by AmtrakThe other direction on the same rail line; Philadelphia sits roughly halfway between the two cities.
Atlantic City & the Jersey Shore
About 1 hourBoardwalks, casinos and Atlantic beaches an hour east, with the quieter Cape May shore a bit farther.
The Pocono Mountains
About 1 hour 45 minutesHiking, waterfalls and skiing in northeastern Pennsylvania for a weekend out of the city.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
15 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Philadelphia Eagles NFLAbout 15 minutes away
- Philadelphia Phillies MLBAbout 15 minutes away
- Philadelphia 76ers NBAAbout 15 minutes away
- Philadelphia Flyers NHLAbout 15 minutes away
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Philadelphia runs on “eds and meds” — Penn and its health system are the region's largest employers — alongside pharma, media and financial services, with Center City's business district a short ride from campus.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Penn Medicine
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
- Comcast
- Cencora (AmerisourceBergen)
Center City Philadelphia, a short train or bus ride east of campus, with the University City life-sciences and healthcare cluster right at Penn's doorstep
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Penn admits 4.9% of applicants overall but 13.3% through binding early decision, and it has reinstated the SAT or ACT requirement for first-year applicants — a test score is part of the application here, not optional. The early-decision gap is the sharpest lever in the process: the regular-round rate is 3.7%, so at Penn applying early matters nearly as much as the application itself. Students who get in tend to finish on time — 86.2% graduate within four years and 96.9% within six, and 98.6% of freshmen return for sophomore year. Aid is need-based only, with no merit scholarships, and meets 100% of demonstrated need; graduates who borrow leave owing an average of $33,655. Undergraduate life centers on Locust Walk, the pedestrian spine through campus: 56% of undergraduates live in university housing, and about 19% of men and 17% of women join fraternities and sororities. The pull that shapes the place is pre-professional — one in five degrees Penn awards is in business, the largest single field, reflecting Wharton's presence inside the undergraduate college.