Which Pennsylvania psychology program has the lowest debt?

Lafayette College reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,000, with first-year pay of $36,235.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 48 Pennsylvania psychology bachelor's programs is $32,974 in the first year after graduating and $50,316 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

48 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 48 of them also report federal debt.

Psychology (Bachelor's) Programs in Pennsylvania, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

48 programs report first-year pay
48 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,974 in their first year, $1,495 more than the national median. Bucknell University reports the highest first-year pay ($51,645), and Lafayette College the lowest median debt ($16,000).

Median first-year pay$32,974National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$50,316National $49,019

Median federal debt$27,000National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings82%National 78%

All 48 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Bucknell UniversityLewisburg · private nonprofit	$51,645	$61,400	$27,000	52%
2	Gettysburg CollegeGettysburg · private nonprofit	$50,040	$66,453	$27,000	54%
3	Lehigh UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$40,942	$75,622	$21,160	52%
4	Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$39,866	$62,008	$30,000	75%
5	King's CollegeWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$39,818	$38,009	$27,000	68%
6	Gwynedd Mercy UniversityGwynedd Valley · private nonprofit	$38,046	Not reported	$31,000	81%
7	Chatham UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$37,601	$45,362	$21,853	58%
8	Lebanon Valley CollegeAnnville · private nonprofit	$37,267	$54,005	$27,000	72%
9	Dickinson CollegeCarlisle · private nonprofit	$37,227	$76,497	$19,000	51%
10	Widener UniversityChester · private nonprofit	$37,224	$59,893	$27,000	73%
11	York College of PennsylvaniaYork · private nonprofit	$37,203	$56,293	$27,000	73%
12	DeSales UniversityCenter Valley · private nonprofit	$36,655	$40,838	$27,000	74%
13	Lafayette CollegeEaston · private nonprofit	$36,235	$74,290	$16,000	44%
14	Villanova UniversityVillanova · private nonprofit	$35,462	$73,774	$21,500	61%
15	Allegheny CollegeMeadville · private nonprofit	$35,218	$50,744	$27,000	77%
16	Carlow UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$35,024	$35,858	$29,552	84%
17	Lycoming CollegeWilliamsport · private nonprofit	$34,534	$48,233	$27,000	78%
18	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$34,377	$55,169	$26,000	76%
19	Chestnut Hill CollegePhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$33,918	$50,832	$27,166	80%
20	Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)Lincoln University · public	$33,699	Not reported	$30,000	89%
21	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$33,680	$46,410	$26,000	77%
22	Moravian UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$33,399	$53,108	$27,000	81%
23	University of ScrantonScranton · private nonprofit	$33,290	$56,214	$26,131	78%
24	Millersville University of PennsylvaniaMillersville · public	$33,168	$44,244	$25,000	75%
25	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock · public	$32,780	$44,693	$26,960	82%
26	Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana · public	$32,694	$42,576	$27,000	83%
27	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$32,408	$51,142	$27,000	83%
28	La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$32,348	$50,289	$27,000	83%
29	Robert Morris UniversityMoon Township · private nonprofit	$32,326	$45,944	$27,000	84%
30	Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$32,291	$56,080	$26,294	81%
31	Albright CollegeReading · private nonprofit	$32,149	$51,883	$26,500	82%
32	Mercyhurst UniversityErie · private nonprofit	$31,868	$50,334	$26,000	82%
33	La Roche UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$31,192	$33,279	$27,000	87%
34	Messiah UniversityMechanicsburg · private nonprofit	$31,131	$48,205	$27,000	87%
35	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown · public	$30,558	$46,086	$27,000	88%
36	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia · public	$30,054	$50,596	$26,000	87%
37	Arcadia UniversityGlenside · private nonprofit	$29,772	$54,051	$27,000	91%
38	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg · public	$29,535	$45,433	$27,000	91%
39	Ursinus CollegeCollegeville · private nonprofit	$29,458	$48,886	$27,000	92%
40	Washington & Jefferson CollegeWashington · private nonprofit	$29,363	$53,552	$27,000	92%
41	Wilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$29,007	$50,297	$26,000	90%
42	East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg · public	$28,982	$43,988	$27,000	93%
43	Susquehanna UniversitySelinsgrove · private nonprofit	$28,186	$53,053	$27,000	96%
44	Thiel CollegeGreenville · private nonprofit	$26,303	$47,324	$27,000	103%
45	Holy Family UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$24,833	$44,624	$27,000	109%
46	Muhlenberg CollegeAllentown · private nonprofit	$24,828	$60,128	$26,312	106%
47	Saint Vincent CollegeLatrobe · private nonprofit	$24,155	$52,042	$27,000	112%
48	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$23,193	$40,380	$26,500	114%

16 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania psychology program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 48 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$91,870

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,140 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,340Top 10%: $175,410

Social Science Research Assistants

$54,610

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 860 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,710Top 10%: $81,640

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Bucknell University in Lewisburg reports the highest median first-year pay, $51,645. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Pennsylvania rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the psychology bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024