College Viability Inspection Report

Ursinus College

Pennsylvania · Private, not-for-profit

Ursinus College is a private, nonprofit institution in Pennsylvania, enrolling 1,584 students as of 2024. It graduates 69% of students in four years, returns 87% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $32,158 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 3 are flagged: Revenue to Expenses, Tuition Allocation, and Price vs. Outcomes. This report benchmarks Ursinus 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.

Ursinus 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

Ursinus College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Ursinus 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 Rate69.0%-8.0%87th
Six-Year Graduation Rate73.0%-7.6%80th
Full-Time Retention Rate87.0%+2.4%80th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate73.1%+4.3%87th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap0.2pp-95.7%19th
Pell Share of Cohort24.6%-3.9%22nd

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.00×+24.2%28th
Total FTE Enrollment1,584+1.5%49th
Endowment Value$167.6M+25.0%75th
Net Assets (End of Year)$245.0M-0.1%72nd

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %27.5%-12.5%28th
Student Support Spending %21.4%+31.7%81st
Administrative Spending %22.9%-4.5%68th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio2.13×+7.4%32nd
Average Net Price$32,158+2.4%90th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$20,622-10.9%78th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$24,154-11.0%88th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$28,815+1.6%92nd
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$31,326+7.7%90th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$33,625+0.9%80th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Ursinus 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%
Ursinus College's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 67% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Ursinus 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
Ursinus College's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 3 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 1.00×.
Financial HealthTriggered
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Ursinus College's total enrollment grew from 1,560 to 1,584 students between 2020 and 2024 (+1.5%).
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Ursinus College's endowment is $167.6M and grew +25.0% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
High Cost, Low Completion
Ursinus 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
Ursinus College spends $2.13 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
Both conditions were met: Ursinus College's net price rose while the 6-year graduation rate declined between 2020 and 2024 — a prompt to ask whether tuition increases are translating into stronger student outcomes.
Value for MoneyTriggered