BSN programs in Pennsylvania
43 BSN programs compared on what happens after graduation: first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates, what a year costs, what graduates owe and what they earn.
- 91.2%
- of first-time test-takers from Pennsylvania BSN programs passed the NCLEX-RN, FY2025 (national BSN rate: 87.6%, 2025)
- 40
- programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers over three years, so their pass rate is ranked; 3 more are shown without a rank
- $96,430
- median yearly pay for registered nurses in Pennsylvania, May 2025 (BLS)
What the data shows
- Spread between programs. Among the 40 programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers, three-year pass rates run from 81.9% (Temple University) to 100.0% (Marywood University), a gap of 18.1 points.
- Against the national rate. BSN graduates in Pennsylvania beat the national first-time rate of 87.6% by 3.6 points. Programs here passed 91.2% of 4,370 first-time test-takers in the latest year each reported (FY2025).
- Lowest net price with an above-average pass rate. Indiana University of Pennsylvania has the lowest average net price ($17,391 a year) of the 26 ranked programs that were at or above the state's pooled pass rate of 92.7%.
- Direction of travel. 25 of 41 programs reported a lower first-time pass rate in their latest year than in their earliest of the three years shown (FY2023 to FY2025 for most).
40 BSN programs ranked by first-time pass rate
Ordered by the pass rate pooled over the program's last three reporting years. The dots show each year, newest in blue; the vertical line marks the Pennsylvania average for the latest year.
| Program | First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | Test-takers | Net price a year | Median loan debt | Pay 1 year out | Graduation rate | Accredited by | Online option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marywood UniversityScranton, Private | 100.0%FY2023: 100.0% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 100.0% | 88 | $21,059 | $27,000 | $90,347 | 70% | CCNE | No |
| Cedar Crest CollegeAllentown, Private | 99.1%FY2023: 98.1% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 100.0% | 212 | $23,513 | $25,000 | $93,248 | 60% | ACEN | Partly |
| Messiah UniversityMechanicsburg, Private | 99.1%FY2023: 100.0% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 97.3% | 117 | $25,955 | $26,862 | $82,180 | 77% | CCNE | No |
| Alvernia UniversityReading, Private | 97.8%FY2023: 94.0% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 100.0% | 137 | $27,122 | $27,000 | $88,298 | 54% | CCNE | Partly |
| West Chester University of PennsylvaniaWest Chester, Public | 96.9%FY2023: 98.8% · FY2024: 95.9% · FY2025: 96.1% | 259 | $24,778 | $16,418 | $91,462 | 69% | CCNE | No |
| Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh, Private | 96.8%FY2023: 97.2% · FY2024: 96.7% · FY2025: 96.4% | 711 | $37,704 | $23,250 | $78,333 | 77% | CCNE | No |
| Neumann UniversityAston, Private | 96.5%FY2023: 98.4% · FY2024: 95.3% · FY2025: 96.2% | 202 | $27,749 | $27,000 | $94,231 | 50% | ACEN | No |
| Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia, Private | 95.9%FY2023: 95.3% · FY2024: 98.3% · FY2025: 94.2% | 1,102 | $37,529 | $12,500 | $95,930 | 78% | CCNE | Partly |
| York College of PennsylvaniaYork, Private | 95.6%FY2023: 93.9% · FY2024: 96.4% · FY2025: 96.7% | 317 | $21,886 | $27,000 | $83,350 | 63% | CCNE | Partly |
| Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana, Public | 95.3%FY2023: 94.5% · FY2024: 94.2% · FY2025: 97.1% | 385 | $17,391 | $27,000 | $78,326 | 54% | CCNE | No |
| Saint Francis UniversityLoretto, Private | 95.2%FY2023: 92.1% · FY2024: 97.5% · FY2025: 96.2% | 104 | $28,219 | $27,000 | $76,558 | 76% | CCNE | No |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main CampusUniversity Park, Public | 95.1%FY2023: 94.7% · FY2024: 96.4% · FY2025: 94.1% | 1,134 | $33,675 | $23,749 | $82,877 | 86% | CCNE | No |
| University of ScrantonScranton, Private | 95.1%FY2023: 93.9% · FY2024: 97.4% · FY2025: 93.8% | 225 | $32,132 | $27,000 | $96,352 | 81% | CCNE | No |
| Robert Morris UniversityMoon Township, Private | 94.9%FY2023: 94.6% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 89.4% | 158 | $21,445 | $21,500 | $73,645 | 65% | CCNE | No |
| Carlow UniversityPittsburgh, Private | 94.8%FY2023: 93.3% · FY2024: 97.6% · FY2025: 93.8% | 269 | $22,455 | $25,000 | $75,795 | 63% | CCNE | Partly |
| East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, Public | 94.8%FY2023: 89.3% · FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 95.0% | 77 | $21,084 | $27,000 | $90,909 | 44% | ACEN (conditions) | No |
| Wilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre, Private | 94.7%FY2023: 93.6% · FY2024: 98.7% · FY2025: 92.8% | 303 | $25,799 | $20,281 | $92,113 | 61% | CCNE | No |
| St. Joseph University | 94.5%FY2023: 97.3% · FY2024: 94.4% · FY2025: 92.9% | 182 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Villanova UniversityVillanova, Private | 94.4%FY2023: 94.6% · FY2024: 96.5% · FY2025: 92.0% | 624 | $41,536 | $24,878 | $95,659 | 92% | CCNE | No |
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh CampusPittsburgh, Public | 94.1%FY2023: 93.1% · FY2024: 97.6% · FY2025: 92.3% | 852 | $29,362 | $23,298 | $78,478 | 86% | CCNE | Yes |
| Misericordia UniversityDallas, Private | 94.0%FY2023: 90.7% · FY2024: 97.4% · FY2025: 95.1% | 265 | $40,348 | $25,000 | $86,785 | 72% | CCNE | Partly |
| Immaculata UniversityImmaculata, Private | 93.5%FY2023: 97.9% · FY2024: 94.3% · FY2025: 89.4% | 184 | $23,811 | $27,000 | $94,349 | 66% | CCNE | Partly |
| Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia, Public | 93.3%FY2023: 97.2% · FY2024: 94.6% · FY2025: 86.4% | 298 | $17,839 | $24,156 | $78,212 | 52% | ACEN + CCNE | Partly |
| University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Private | 93.2%FY2023: 90.0% · FY2024: 97.9% · FY2025: 91.5% | 574 | $29,577 | $20,500 | $91,079 | 97% | CCNE | No |
| Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsport, Public | 92.9%FY2023: 95.1% · FY2024: 95.1% · FY2025: 87.1% | 113 | $24,761 | $25,550 | $88,301 | 52% | ACEN | Yes |
| DeSales UniversityCenter Valley, Private | 92.8%FY2023: 92.5% · FY2024: 93.3% · FY2025: 92.7% | 320 | $29,183 | $25,000 | $91,612 | 71% | CCNE | No |
| Waynesburg UniversityWaynesburg, Private | 91.7%FY2023: 90.0% · FY2024: 96.4% · FY2025: 86.2% | 144 | $18,810 | $27,000 | $75,649 | 60% | CCNE | No |
| Moravian UniversityBethlehem, Private | 91.5%FY2023: 88.4% · FY2024: 95.8% · FY2025: 91.2% | 235 | $35,264 | $23,040 | $91,601 | 73% | CCNE | No |
| Mount Aloysius CollegeCresson, Private | 91.3%FY2023: 100.0% · FY2024: 91.3% · FY2025: 86.7% | 69 | $21,483 | $27,000 | $81,507 | 55% | ACEN | Partly |
| Gwynedd Mercy UniversityGwynedd Valley, Private | 91.0%FY2023: 91.4% · FY2024: 91.3% · FY2025: 89.6% | 587 | $27,541 | $26,250 | $91,819 | 58% | CCNE | No |
| Thomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia, Private | 90.4%FY2023: 87.0% · FY2024: 93.0% · FY2025: 92.3% | 1,169 | $25,555 | $12,500 | $98,195 | 70% | CCNE | No |
| Eastern UniversitySaint Davids, Private | 89.8%FY2023: 80.6% · FY2024: 92.3% · FY2025: 94.7% | 108 | $27,498 | $27,000 | $86,615 | 56% | CCNE | No |
| Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg, Public | 88.8%FY2023: 88.7% · FY2024: 90.8% · FY2025: 86.9% | 429 | $17,468 | $26,000 | $90,544 | 54% | ACEN + CCNE | Partly |
| Widener UniversityChester, Private | 88.4%FY2023: 89.9% · FY2024: 89.0% · FY2025: 85.7% | 553 | $26,151 | $26,000 | $90,244 | 68% | CCNE | Partly |
| La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia, Private | 88.3%FY2023: 89.2% · FY2024: 94.2% · FY2025: 77.6% | 281 | $19,758 | $25,019 | $92,836 | 58% | CCNE | Partly |
| Seton Hill UniversityGreensburg, Private | 86.5%FY2023: 88.2% · FY2024: 77.8% · FY2025: 94.1% | 52 | $25,519 | $27,000 | – | 67% | CCNE | No |
| Holy Family UniversityPhiladelphia, Private | 86.0%FY2023: 84.1% · FY2024: 91.0% · FY2025: 83.5% | 971 | $12,882 | $25,000 | $94,861 | 64% | CCNE | No |
| Gannon UniversityErie, Private | 85.3%FY2023: 82.5% · FY2024: 98.4% · FY2025: 75.8% | 191 | $24,443 | $27,000 | $71,997 | 69% | CCNE | Partly |
| Wilson CollegeChambersburg, Private | 84.7%FY2023: 80.4% · FY2024: 89.2% · FY2025: 87.1% | 124 | $20,699 | $25,500 | $77,905 | 52% | – | Partly |
| Temple UniversityPhiladelphia, Public | 81.9%FY2023: 86.3% · FY2024: 84.9% · FY2025: 74.2% | 298 | $23,058 | $27,000 | $91,116 | 74% | CCNE | No |
Pass rates: Pennsylvania board of nursing, fiscal (Oct-Sep). Net price is the College Scorecard's average yearly cost after grants and scholarships for first-time, full-time undergraduates who receive federal aid (in-state price at public schools), and graduation rate covers the whole school. Debt is the median federal loan balance of nursing graduates who borrowed, and pay is the median earnings of graduates who are working one year after finishing (2024 dollars). Accreditation is checked against the ACEN and CCNE directories; a dash means we could not match the program to a listing, which is not the same as being unaccredited, so check with the school. “Partly” under online option means some, but not all, of the school's programs at this level can be finished fully online, such as an RN-to-BSN track. A dash means the figure is not published, often because too few graduates received federal aid.
Programs with fewer than 20 test-takers
With so few graduates testing, one or two results can move a program's pass rate by many points, so we show these programs but do not rank them.
| Program | First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | Test-takers |
|---|---|---|
| King's CollegeWilkes-Barre, Private | 100.0%FY2025: 100.0% | 3 |
| South College | 100.0%FY2025: 100.0% | 1 |
| Mercyhurst UniversityErie, Private | 80.0%FY2024: 100.0% · FY2025: 75.0% | 5 |
Other Pennsylvania schools that award nursing bachelor's degrees
These schools reported nursing graduates to the federal government but do not appear on the board's NCLEX list for this program type. Some offer only an RN-to-BSN completion program for nurses who already hold a license; others are new, or the board lists them under another school.
| School | City | Graduates a year | Net price a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster | Lancaster | 127 | $29,148 |
| Millersville University of Pennsylvania | Millersville | 95 | $18,817 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona | Altoona | 58 | $21,714 |
| Pennsylvania State University-World Campus | University Park | 51 | $12,651 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg | Middletown | 36 | $16,753 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College | Erie | 33 | $23,165 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont Alto | Mont Alto | 32 | $16,748 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Scranton | Dunmore | 29 | $12,204 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Schuylkill | Schuylkill Haven | 26 | $15,199 |
| Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | Slippery Rock | 25 | $19,972 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Fayette- Eberly | Lemont Furnace | 19 | $11,957 |
| Chatham University | Pittsburgh | 17 | $25,502 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Shenango | Sharon | 9 | $10,802 |
| Westminster College | New Wilmington | 9 | $19,484 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington | New Kensington | 7 | $10,866 |
| Geneva College | Beaver Falls | 6 | $19,090 |
| Grove City College | Grove City | 6 | – |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington | Abington | 5 | $14,429 |
| Lackawanna College | Scranton | 4 | $19,225 |
| Harrisburg University of Science and Technology | Harrisburg | 4 | $14,133 |
| University of Pittsburgh-Bradford | Bradford | 3 | $13,598 |
| Elizabethtown College | Elizabethtown | 1 | $25,682 |
| La Roche University | Pittsburgh | 1 | $27,449 |
How to read this page
Pennsylvania lists 43 BSN programs on its board of nursing's published NCLEX results (9 public, 32 private nonprofit and 0for-profit among the 41 we could match to a federal school record). Graduates of a bachelor's degree in nursing program take the NCLEX-RN; programs typically take about 4 years.
Pass rates cover fiscal (Oct-Sep). Boards define a reporting year differently, so compare programs within a state rather than across states. We have not combined these figures into an overall score yet: the full formula on how we rank programs needs every state's data, so for now programs are ordered by pass rate alone. All sources are listed on data sources.
See Pennsylvania's NCLEX pass rates by program type. See what it takes to get a nursing license in Pennsylvania.