Drexel University
About
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, it was renamed Drexel Institute of Technology in 1936, before assuming its current name in 1970. As of 2020, more than 24,000 students were enrolled in over 70 undergraduate programs and more than 100 master's, doctoral, and professional programs at the university. Drexel's cooperative education program (co-op) is a unique aspect of the school's degree programs, offering students the opportunity to gain up to 18 months of paid, full-time work experience in a field relevant to their undergraduate major or graduate degree program prior to graduation.
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
Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 311 Title IV programs, 93 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 217 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing93 · 29.9%
- No Data217 · 69.8%
- Failing1 · 0.3%
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.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
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 · 18
Action history · 30
- Nov 2025Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education · Physical Therapy (PT) - Professional programs for the physical therapist
- Oct 2025Approved for Distance EducationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIET) - Coordinated Program in Dietetics
- Oct 2025Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation · Professional Psychology (IPSY) - Predoctoral internship programs
- Jul 2024Renewal of AccreditationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIET) - Coordinated Program in Dietetics
- Jul 2024Renewal of AccreditationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Didactic Program in Dietetics
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, 4,439 students received $25.8M in Pell grants, alongside $255.3M 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 5,199 borrowers who entered repayment, 50 (0.9%) 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 Drexel
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 · 11
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 campus32
- Non-campus10
- Public property51
Includes 15 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Race4
- Religion3
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- RACE STREET RESIDENCES1 fireArsonDamage $1,000-$9,999
- VAN RENSSELAER1 fireMachinery/IndustrialDamage $0-$99
- DELTA SIGMA PHI1 fireDamage $0-$99
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Drexel vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Drexel 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectDrexel University | 78% | — | 21,153 | $38,428 | R1 Research |
Baylor University | 80% | 51.3% | 20,626 | $41,942 | R1 Research |
Boston College | 91% | 16.4% | 15,432 | $39,866 | R1 Research |
Boston University | 89% | 11.1% | 37,737 | $26,996 | R1 Research |
Brandeis University | 86% | 40.5% | 5,205 | $33,885 | R1 Research |
Brown University | 96% | 5.4% | 11,956 | $26,572 | R1 Research |
California Institute of Technology | 94% | 2.6% | 2,430 | $18,902 | R1 Research |
Carnegie Mellon University | 94% | 11.7% | 15,888 | $31,671 | R1 Research |
Case Western Reserve University | 87% | 36.5% | 12,475 | $38,909 | R1 Research |
Columbia University in the City of New York | 96% | 4.0% | 35,173 | $20,148 | R1 Research |
Cornell University | 95% | 8.8% | 26,793 | $32,337 | R1 Research |
Dartmouth College | 96% | 5.4% | 6,938 | $28,619 | R1 Research |
Duke University | 97% | 5.7% | 17,499 | $34,454 | R1 Research |
Emory University | 91% | 10.6% | 15,175 | $23,911 | R1 Research |
George Washington University | 84% | 47.1% | 25,374 | $37,454 | R1 Research |
Georgetown University | 95% | 12.9% | 20,031 | $39,433 | R1 Research |
Harvard University | 98% | 3.6% | 30,259 | $16,816 | R1 Research |
Johns Hopkins University | 94% | 6.4% | 30,210 | $18,161 | R1 Research |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 96% | 4.5% | 11,886 | $19,813 | R1 Research |
New York University | 88% | 9.2% | 56,832 | $35,035 | R1 Research |
Northeastern University | 91% | 5.2% | 32,553 | $32,116 | R1 Research |
Northwestern University | 95% | 7.7% | 23,856 | $27,143 | R1 Research |
Princeton University | 98% | 4.6% | 9,137 | $10,555 | R1 Research |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 84% | 63.5% | 7,040 | $33,139 | R1 Research |
Rice University | 95% | 8.0% | 8,961 | $12,640 | R1 Research |
Stanford University | 92% | 3.6% | 18,625 | $12,136 | R1 Research |
Syracuse University | 84% | 45.9% | 22,589 | $41,026 | R1 Research |
Tufts University | 94% | 11.5% | 13,599 | $35,435 | R1 Research |
Tulane University of Louisiana | 86% | 14.0% | 13,310 | $43,939 | R1 Research |
University of Chicago | 96% | 4.5% | 18,566 | $18,967 | R1 Research |
University of Denver | 76% | 77.8% | 12,813 | $36,037 | R1 Research |
University of Miami | 84% | 18.9% | 19,852 | $36,803 | R1 Research |
University of Notre Dame | 95% | 11.3% | 13,042 | $27,823 | R1 Research |
University of Pennsylvania | 97% | 5.4% | 29,109 | $31,229 | R1 Research |
University of Rochester | 85% | 40.1% | 11,946 | $30,248 | R1 Research |
University of Southern California | 92% | 9.8% | 46,566 | $31,927 | R1 Research |
Vanderbilt University | 94% | 5.9% | 13,575 | $19,040 | R1 Research |
Washington University in St Louis | 94% | 12.1% | 16,357 | $22,117 | R1 Research |
Yale University | 96% | 3.9% | 15,564 | $27,818 | R1 Research |
| Peer group median | 94% | 9.5% | 16,357 | $31,229 |
Drexel Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The mission of the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Accreditation at Drexel University is to support the achievement of the University mission by providing timely, accurate, and unbiased data and analysis for institutional decision-making, assessment, effective management, and strategic planning.
Visit IR office page- Sujoy Das, PhDVice Provost for Institutional Research, Assessment and Accreditation
- Joseph M. HawkExecutive Director of Assessment and Accreditation
- Anupma Singh, PhDExecutive Director of Institutional Research
- Esul Park, PhDDirector of Survey Research
- Manny SanchezManager of Operations
- Kalpana Paudel SapkotaProgrammer Analyst
Research funding
External research funding from NSF, NIH, HERD, and federal spending sources.
Common Data Set (11)
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.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- FactbookDrexel University Factbook2026The Drexel University Factbook is a comprehensive data resource created by the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Accreditation at Drexel University. It includes a wide array of metrics related to university admissions, course sizes, diversity, employees, enrollment, faculty, finance, financial aid, graduates, and graduation rates. The factbook utilizes data from Drexel's Blackboard Analytics data warehousing model and updates occur as data become available, often aligning with academic years.drexel.edu
- GlossaryGlossary of TermsThe Drexel University Institutional Research Glossary of Terms provides definitions for 35 terms related to educational assessment, program improvement, and institutional effectiveness. Key terms include 'Assessment', 'Bloom's Taxonomy', and 'Curriculum Maps', among others. This glossary aids in understanding the systematic approach to improving student learning and instructional delivery through various forms of assessments, both direct and indirect.drexel.edu
- Strategic planDrexel 2030 – Designing the Future2026Drexel University's Strategic Plan, titled 'Drexel 2030 – Designing the Future,' outlines the institution's roadmap to improve its mission, campus experience, and community impact. The plan, led by President John Fry and an Executive Planning Committee since October 2019, aims to track strategic goals through key performance indicators like retention rates, research expenditures, and graduate satisfaction. The plan's six imperatives focus on fostering community, advancing research, creating partnerships, adapting curricula, encouraging immersive learning, and empowering students.drexel.edu
Notable alumni of Drexel (28)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Ramani AyerBusiness
- Michael BaumBusiness
- Albert BoscovBusiness
- Kenneth C. DahlbergBusiness
- Dana DornsifeBusiness
- Elaine GarzarelliBusiness
- Raj GuptaBusiness
- Bennett S. LeBowBusiness
- Earl LestzBusiness
- Richelle ParhamBusiness
- Dorcas Bates ReillyBusiness
- Nicholas SchorschBusiness
Frequently asked questions about Drexel University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Drexel.
What is the graduation rate at Drexel University?
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Who runs Institutional Research at Drexel University?
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