College Viability Inspection Report

Lancaster Bible College

Pennsylvania · Private, not-for-profit

Lancaster Bible College is a private, nonprofit institution in Pennsylvania, enrolling 1,332 students as of 2024. It graduates 59% of students in four years, returns 79% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $25,940 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 5 are flagged: Graduation, Equity Gap, Revenue to Expenses, Endowment, and Tuition Allocation. This report benchmarks Lancaster Bible 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.

Lancaster Bible 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

Lancaster Bible College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Lancaster Bible 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 Rate59.0%+31.1%77th
Six-Year Graduation Rate67.0%+21.8%71st
Full-Time Retention Rate79.0%-2.5%58th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate53.4%-6.8%61st
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap21.0pp+396.1%91st
Pell Share of Cohort31.7%-3.4%35th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio0.97×+0.1%19th
Total FTE Enrollment1,332+6.0%44th
Endowment Value$19.4M+31.9%29th
Net Assets (End of Year)$57.5M+11.9%39th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %30.9%-9.3%39th
Student Support Spending %16.3%+14.4%64th
Administrative Spending %30.3%+6.6%84th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio1.56×-8.3%19th
Average Net Price$25,940+25.1%76th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$24,486+34.5%89th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$22,017+58.5%82nd
Net Price: $48-75K Income$23,904+20.5%83rd
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$24,034+2.5%69th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$29,957+14.4%70th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Lancaster Bible College's retention rate fell below 80% in 2 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Lancaster Bible College's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 3 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Lancaster Bible College's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10 percentage points in 3 of 5 eligible years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Lancaster Bible College's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 4 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 0.97×.
Financial HealthTriggered
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Lancaster Bible College's total enrollment grew from 1,257 to 1,332 students between 2020 and 2024 (+6.0%).
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Lancaster Bible College's endowment is $19.4M, under the $50 million threshold. A smaller endowment leaves less cushion for scholarships and for tough budget years, even though it grew +31.9% over the period.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
Lancaster Bible 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
Lancaster Bible College spends $1.56 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 5 of 5 reported years.
Value for MoneyTriggered
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