Associate's · Dallas, Pennsylvania

Is Business/Commerce, General at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $40,864; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $66,162; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $13,687; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $22k (likely $22k – $29k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $27k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in PA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.4 years (likely 1.9–3.0); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $143k (likely $86k – $202k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $482k (likely $342k – $628k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 12%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: ≤ 20% / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20