Arcadia University
About
Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre Glenside campus features Grey Towers Castle, a National Historic Landmark; the university also includes a campus in Christiana, Delaware, as well as several centers around the world.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 8.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 94 Title IV programs, 26 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 68 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing26 · 27.7%
- No Data68 · 72.3%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Programmatic accreditations · 4
Action history · 5
- Oct 2022Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education · Physical Therapy (PT) - Professional programs for the physical therapist
- Jun 2020Renewal of AccreditationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Jun 2019Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: WarningMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Sep 2018Renewal of AccreditationCouncil on Education for Public Health · Public Health Programs (PHPBG) - Baccalaureate and Graduate level programs offered outside a school of public health
- Aug 2014Change in Agency recognitionNational Association of Schools of Art and Design, Commission on Accreditation · Art and Design (ART) - Degree-granting schools and departments and non-degree-granting programs
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 832 students received $4.9M in Pell grants, alongside $28.7M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 1,024 borrowers who entered repayment, 14 (1.3%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Arcadia
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 12
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus6
Includes 5 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Arcadia vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Arcadia selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectArcadia University | 67% | — | 3,404 | $25,866 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Ashland University | 60% | 76.4% | 4,106 | $21,994 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Augsburg University | 52% | 82.0% | 3,249 | $23,875 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Baldwin Wallace University | 67% | 75.7% | 3,305 | $27,654 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Benedictine University | 50% | 95.2% | 2,917 | $23,529 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Champlain College | 65% | 82.9% | 3,259 | $35,000 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Dominican University | 55% | 90.3% | 3,803 | $15,113 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus | 66% | 95.2% | 2,885 | $24,415 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Faulkner University | 38% | 73.1% | 3,086 | $21,165 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Fresno Pacific University | 50% | 64.1% | 2,879 | $14,317 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology | 34% | 87.4% | 3,650 | $13,766 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Le Moyne College | 73% | 83.0% | 3,091 | $21,547 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Life University | 38% | 93.0% | 2,714 | $30,257 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Lindsey Wilson College | 43% | — | 4,193 | $13,811 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Maharishi International University | 50% | 95.7% | 2,592 | $18,225 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Marywood University | 72% | 60.6% | 2,530 | $22,222 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Messiah University | 75% | 79.0% | 3,373 | $27,686 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
New England College | 35% | 92.1% | 3,275 | $30,299 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Olivet Nazarene University | 61% | 55.9% | 3,339 | $21,539 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Regis College | 71% | 69.8% | 2,517 | $28,346 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Rhode Island School of Design | 89% | 18.7% | 2,520 | $46,253 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Rollins College | 75% | 47.5% | 3,046 | $33,847 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Saint Edward's University | 63% | 81.4% | 3,033 | $23,636 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Saint Mary's College of California | 70% | 86.5% | 2,734 | $31,198 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Saint Peter's University | 58% | 90.3% | 3,572 | $12,973 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Saint Xavier University | 57% | 84.3% | 3,485 | $12,093 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Salve Regina University | 77% | 68.2% | 2,791 | $35,682 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
St. Mary's University | 59% | 97.8% | 3,456 | $21,352 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Stevenson University | 68% | 78.9% | 3,684 | $26,806 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
University of Redlands | 67% | 82.7% | 3,087 | $22,867 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Upper Iowa University | 33% | 96.5% | 3,941 | $23,172 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
| Peer group median | 61% | 82.7% | 3,249 | $23,529 |
Arcadia Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness has the primary institutional responsibility for the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative information for Arcadia University, its students, its faculty, its programs, its public, its practices and its services.
Visit IR office page- Bridget M Miller, Ed.D.Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Effectiveness
- Kristen IvesAssociate Director, Institutional Reporting & Decision Analytics
Common Data Set (1)
The institution's official annual Common Data Set publications — the most detailed reference for enrollment, admissions, and outcomes.
Reports & documents (4)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- Data dictionaryInstitutional Surveys and Studies | Arcadia University2026The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Arcadia University provides comprehensive quantitative and qualitative research analysis in support of various university initiatives such as assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, and program success. The Office coordinates a variety of institutional, local, national, and international surveys and studies, and is responsible for the annual Factbook publication, which contains vital statistics about Arcadia University in terms of enrollments, characteristics of faculty and staff, and financial and academic resources.arcadia.edu
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- FactbookInstitutional Surveys and Studies | Arcadia University2025The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Arcadia University provides quantitative and qualitative research analysis to support assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, program success, retention, and other university initiatives. The Factbook, published annually, contains current data on major areas of the university, such as student enrollments, faculty/staff characteristics, fiscal and capital resources, and instructional and research productivity. The office ensures accurate and timely data reporting to aid in planning and data-informed decision-making.arcadia.edu
- GlossaryAcademic Glossary | Arcadia UniversityThe Arcadia University Academic Glossary is a comprehensive guide to understanding academic terms, campus lingo, and university policies. It includes definitions for various terms related to prospective and current students, financial aid, and academic programs, aiding students in navigating college life with confidence.arcadia.edu
Frequently asked questions about Arcadia University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Arcadia.
What is the graduation rate at Arcadia University?
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Who runs Institutional Research at Arcadia University?
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