At a Glance
UPenn admits 4.9% of applicants.
What You'll Actually Pay
See what families at different income levels actually pay after aid.
What families actually pay, by income level
After grants and scholarships. Before loans. Public school prices shown at in-state rates.
Source: College Scorecard / IPEDS, 2024-25
Where the Sticker Price Goes
Based on average need-based grant. Actual cost varies by family income — see chart above.
Debt at Graduation
Not reported by this school
receive need-based grant aid
$33,655
average debt at graduation
UPenn graduates carry an average of $33,655 in debt.
Merit Aid
Not reported by this school — some schools award aid based on need alone, without merit scholarships.
Getting In
UPenn admits 4.9% of applicants.
University of Pennsylvania's Early Decision applicants are admitted at more than 4x the rate of Regular Decision applicants — 13.3% vs 3.7%. Note: ED is binding — you commit to attending if admitted.
This school reports SAT section scores but leaves the composite range blank, so there is no mid-50% band to chart.
Mid-50% by section: Reading 740–770 · Math 770–800.
ACT — Middle 50% of those who submitted · 18% of the class submitted
92% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What They Value
Academic
Nonacademic
University of Pennsylvania rates your personal essay as Very Important — equal weight to your GPA. Don't underestimate it. Demonstrated interest is Not Considered here — campus visits and emails to admissions won't affect your odds.
Student Life
58.3% of UPenn classes have fewer than 20 students.
Share of undergraduate class sections at each size, from CDS Section I-3. More red = more large lectures.
At UPenn, 58.3% of your classes will have fewer than 20 students.
Class size data reflects all undergraduate sections including labs, seminars, and lectures. Large research universities often have smaller upper-division and graduate-level sections that improve the overall distribution. First and second-year students typically experience larger classes than these averages suggest.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section I-3 (class sizes)
10:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus Life
From out of state (freshman class)
71.9%
Live on campus
56%
Men in fraternities
19%
Women in sororities
17%
Who Attends
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduates, as reported in each school's Common Data Set. "Unknown / Other" includes students who did not report or selected "other."
UPenn's student body is 25.3% white.
Popular Majors
Will They Graduate?
UPenn graduates 86.2% of students in 4 years.
Graduating late means paying for extra semesters. The 6-year rate tells you who eventually finishes — the 4-year rate tells you what it actually costs.
UPenn graduates 86.2% of students in 4 years.
What finishing late actually costs
Based on each school's published cost of attendance. Public school costs shown at in-state rates.
UPenn
86.2%
4-yr grad rate
Most finish on time
Graduation rate data from Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2018 cohort (most recent available). 4-year rate = students completing in 4 years or less. 6-year rate = students completing within 6 years.
96.9%
Overall 6-yr rate
94.8%
Pell recipient rate
Lower-income students graduate at nearly the same rate as their peers — a sign of strong institutional support.
Freshman Retention
98.6%
98.6% of first-year students return for sophomore year.
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. 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.
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.
The City
Major city
Philadelphia, PA
Best For
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
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 & 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
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
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.