Pennsylvania State University - Berks Overview

Located in Reading, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University - Berks is a public institution. Penn State Berks is located in a safe and convenient suburb.

What Is Pennsylvania State University - Berks Known For?

• Students at Penn State Berks have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 5%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• The bachelor's degree is the highest award offered at Penn State Berks.
• In 2017-2018, 88% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Penn State Berks makes roughly $50,100 a year. This is 23% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Pennsylvania State University - Berks Rankings

According to our 2021 analysis, Penn State Berks is ranked #426 out of 2,320 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

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.

Penn State Berks has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#63	Best Associate’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Penn State Berks.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#9	Best Computer & Information Sciences Associate’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#10	Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#19	Best Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#23	Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#23	Best Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services Associate’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#23	Best Hospitality Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#45	Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#45	Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Penn State Berks has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#6	Highest Paid Information Technology Graduates	College Factual
#9	Highest Paid Drama & Theater Arts Graduates	College Factual
#10	Highest Paid Hospitality Management Graduates	College Factual
#48	Best Computer Science Schools	Computer Science Degree
#92	Highest Paid Biological & Biomedical Sciences Graduates	College Factual
#137	Highest Paid Health Professions Graduates	College Factual

Where Is Pennsylvania State University - Berks?

Contact details for Penn State Berks are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	Tulpehocken Road, Reading, PA 19610-1016
Phone:	610-396-6000
Website:	berks.psu.edu/
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/pennstateberks
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/PennStateBerks

How Do I Get Into Penn State Berks?

You can apply to Penn State Berks online at: admissions.psu.edu/apply/

Admission Requirements for Penn State Berks

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	recommended
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Penn State Berks?

With an acceptance rate of 86%, Penn State Berks is fairly easy to get into, but you must be sure to submit the required materials.

Approximately 56% of accepted students are men and 44% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 86%, and the acceptance rate for women is 86%.

Average Test Scores

About 83% of students accepted to Penn State Berks submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 590. Math scores were between 490 and 600.

Penn State Berks received ACT scores from 10% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 20 and 25. Math scores were between 21 and 29. Composite scores were between 21 and 26.

Can I Afford Pennsylvania State University - Berks?

The overall average net price of Penn State Berks is $36,374. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

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 Penn State Berks, approximately 64% of students took out student loans averaging $8,204 a year. That adds up to $32,816 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Penn State Berks is 4.9%. 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.

Pennsylvania State University - Berks Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 2,578 undergraduate students at Penn State Berks, with 2,277 being full-time and 301 being part-time.

Gender Diversity

Of the 2,277 full-time undergraduates at Penn State Berks, 60% are male and 40% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Pennsylvania State University - Berks students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	122
Black or African American	153
Hispanic or Latino	283
White	1,524
International Students	108
Other Races/Ethnicities	87

Geographic Diversity

Pennsylvania students aren't the only ones who study at Pennsylvania State University - Berks. At this time, 12 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Online Learning at Pennsylvania State University - Berks

In 2017-2018, 714 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Penn State Berks has changed over the last few years.

Online Growth Rankings of Penn State Berks

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Pennsylvania State University - Berks was 11.1%. This is the #1,258 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Penn State Berks regardless of major.

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%.

Pennsylvania State University - Berks Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Basic Certificate	Associate’s	Undergraduate Certificate	Bachelor’s	TOTAL
General Business/Commerce	2	6	0	50	58
Accounting	0	0	0	30	30
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	0	30	30
Electromechanical Engineering Technology	0	0	0	29	29
Information Science	0	1	0	27	28
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	0	28	0	0	28
Health & Physical Education	0	0	0	27	27
General Psychology	0	0	0	26	26
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	0	25	25
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	0	0	25	25
Information Technology	0	0	10	14	24
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	0	0	21	21
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	0	0	0	20	20
Biological & Physical Science	0	0	0	20	20
General Biology	0	0	0	18	18
Hospitality Management	0	0	0	13	13
Communication & Media Studies	0	0	0	12	12
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	8	0	0	8
Writing Studies	0	0	0	7	7
Human Resource Management	0	0	0	4	4
Public Relations & Advertising	4	0	0	0	4
Drama & Theater Arts	0	0	0	3	3
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	0	0	2	2
Management Information Systems	1	0	0	0	1
Natural Resources Conservation	0	0	0	1	1
Economics	0	0	0	1	1
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	0	0	0
Computer Information Systems	0	0	0	0	0
Data Processing	0	0	0	0	0
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	0	0	0
Electronics Engineering Technology	0	0	0	0	0
Mechanical Engineering Technology	0	0	0	0	0
Electrical Engineering	0	0	0	0	0
Area Studies	0	0	0	0	0
Nursing	0	0	0	0	0
History	0	0	0	0	0
Other Homeland Security	0	0	0	0	0
International Relations & National Security	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	7	43	10	405	465

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.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics

More about our data sources and methodologies.