College Viability Inspection Report

Dickinson College

Pennsylvania · Private, not-for-profit

Dickinson College is a private, nonprofit institution in Pennsylvania, enrolling 2,313 students as of 2024. It graduates 80% of students in four years, returns 92% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $38,483 a year after grants and scholarships. None of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated for Dickinson College are flagged. This report benchmarks Dickinson College's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Dickinson College Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Dickinson College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Dickinson College. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate80.0%-1.2%94th
Six-Year Graduation Rate84.0%0.0%91st
Full-Time Retention Rate92.0%+12.2%88th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate79.0%-3.8%90th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap0.9pp-56.4%21st
Pell Share of Cohort15.8%+45.7%10th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.33×+46.5%88th
Total FTE Enrollment2,313+0.8%60th
Endowment Value$627.5M+38.6%89th
Net Assets (End of Year)$715.2M+24.4%88th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %33.2%-6.5%49th
Student Support Spending %15.7%+0.8%62nd
Administrative Spending %15.7%-1.1%38th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio3.11×-3.3%60th
Average Net Price$38,483+3.1%95th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$40,755+220.2%99th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$15,081+25.4%54th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$16,316-15.5%50th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$22,696-10.7%62nd
Net Price: $110K+ Income$45,175+9.2%92nd

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Dickinson College's retention rate stayed at or above 82% in all 5 reported years — above the 80% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Dickinson College's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 79% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Dickinson College's Pell graduation gap stayed at or below 10 percentage points in all 5 eligible years.
Student OutcomesCleared
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Dickinson College's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Dickinson College's total enrollment grew from 2,295 to 2,313 students between 2020 and 2024 (+0.8%).
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Dickinson College's endowment is $627.5M and grew +38.6% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
High Cost, Low Completion
Dickinson College costs more than the national median but also graduates students at above-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Dickinson College spends $3.11 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered.
Value for MoneyCleared