Pennsylvania has 113 private and 22 public 4-year colleges that enroll 82,359 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $29,389 for in-state students and $37,716 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in Pennsylvania charge around $39,303 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, Pennsylvania provided $71.1 million in financial aid to 19,398 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $1 billion in grants and scholarships to 58,929 students.

Pennsylvania receives 5.3% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 23,537 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $113.8 million in pell grant ($4,595 per student on average), and 47,512 students received a total amount of $254.2 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($5,790 per student on average).