DeSales University Overview
Located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, DeSales University is a private not-for-profit institution. Students who love country life may enjoy the rural location of DeSales.
What Is DeSales University Known For?
- The 5% student loan default rate at DeSales is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at DeSales.
- In 2017-2018, 39% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from DeSales makes roughly $49,700 a year. This is 22% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
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DeSales University Rankings
According to our 2022 analysis, DeSales is ranked #383 out of 2,587 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
DeSales has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#104 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at DeSales.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards DeSales has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#58 | Best Allied Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
#101 | Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools | College Factual |
#103 | Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools | College Factual |
#116 | Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools | College Factual |
#203 | Best Healthcare Schools | Healthcare Degree Search |
#357 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is DeSales University?

Contact details for DeSales are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley, PA 18034-9568 |
Phone: | 610-282-1100 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/desalesuniversity |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/desales |
How Do I Get Into DeSales?
You can apply to DeSales online at: www.desales.edu/admissions-financial-aid/undergraduate-admissions-aid/how-to-apply
Admission Requirements for DeSales
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into DeSales?
Approximately 35% of accepted students are men and 65% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 82%, and the acceptance rate for women is 82%.
Average Test Scores
About 81% of students accepted to DeSales submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 510 and 630. Math scores were between 500 and 610.
Can I Afford DeSales University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At DeSales, approximately 70% of students took out student loans averaging $12,013 a year. That adds up to $48,052 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at DeSales is 4.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
DeSales University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 904 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 1,930 full-time undergraduates at DeSales, 39% are male and 61% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of DeSales University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 73 |
Black or African American | 105 |
Hispanic or Latino | 212 |
White | 1,391 |
International Students | 1 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 148 |
Geographic Diversity
Pennsylvania students aren't the only ones who study at DeSales University. At this time, 16 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 13 countries are represented at DeSales. The most popular countries sending students to the school are United Kingdom, Australia, and France.
Online Learning at DeSales University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at DeSales has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 24th most popular in Pennsylvania for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of DeSales
The following table shows how DeSales is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences | #7 | #7 |
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing | #10 | #10 |
Homeland Security | #74 | #74 |
International Business | #75 | #75 |
Online Growth Rankings of DeSales
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at DeSales University was 13.4%. This is the #1,252 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at DeSales regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of DeSales majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Business Administration & Management | 8% |
Business, Management & Marketing | 11% |
Criminal Justice & Corrections | 13% |
Finance & Financial Management | 18% |
Health Professions | 3% |
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | 26% |
Nursing | 10% |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | 26% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at DeSales ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at DeSales.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Intelligence & Command Control Operations | #17 | |
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences | #20 | |
Other Education | #56 | |
Teaching English or French | #64 | |
Information Science | #73 | |
Finance & Financial Management | #89 | |
Instructional Media Design | #189 | |
General Business/Commerce | #225 | |
Special Education | #247 | |
Computer Information Systems | #261 | |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #264 | |
Educational Administration | #345 | |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #404 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
DeSales University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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