Private nonprofit · Urban campus · founded 1891 · full profile

Drexel University

Students who want substantial paid co-op experience in a major city and do not have highly selective credentials — provided the aid package and the specific program's outcomes hold up.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania13,233 undergraduatesMean consensus percentile 25Co-op programCareer-focusedResearch university

The short answer

Drexel runs one of the two largest co-op programs in the country, with a five-year option that includes three six-month paid placements. At a 79.4% acceptance rate it is broadly accessible, but a 78.2% six-year graduation rate and $25,325 median federal debt make it a school where the specific offer matters more than the brand.

The six numbers that matter most

Acceptance rate: 79.4%
Average net price: $38,509
Median earnings, 10 yrs: $84,648
6-year graduation rate: 78.2%
Median debt at graduation: $25,325
SAT middle 50%: 1240–1440

Where Drexel ranks, and why the answers differ

Each publisher's position, the list it belongs to, and how many institutions it was drawn from.

Source	List	Rank	Percentile	What it measures
US News2026	National Universities	#80of 436National universities	Top 18% on this list	The list admissions offices care about most, now weighted heavily toward graduation outcomes rather than reputation and spending.
Forbes2026	America's Top Colleges	#185of 500Top colleges (Forbes)	Top 37% on this list	A return-on-investment list: it asks what graduates earn and how much debt they carry, and largely ignores prestige.
Washington Monthly2026	National Universities	#118of 442National universities	Top 27% on this list	Ranks colleges on what they give back to the country — social mobility, research output and public service.
WSJ2026	Best Colleges in the U.S.	#181of 500U.S. colleges (WSJ)	Top 36% on this list	Built almost entirely around value added — how much a school improves graduate salaries beyond what its intake predicted.
Niche2026	Best Colleges (Overall)A-	#163of 2,605Overall (Niche)	Top 6% on this list	Federal data blended with millions of current-student reviews, which makes it the best read on what campus life actually feels like.
Money2026	Best Value Colleges	Not ranked by this source	—	A five-star affordability rating that weighs net price against graduation odds and early-career pay.
Princeton Review2026	Best Colleges (Overall)	Not ranked by this source	—	Survey-only category lists — best classroom experience, best financial aid, best career services — with no overall ranking at all.
QS2026	World University Rankings	Not ranked by this source	—	A global research and reputation ranking — useful for graduate school and international standing, close to useless for undergraduate fit.

Methodology sensitivity: Drexel's position moves 31 percentile points depending on which published list you read. That is a wide spread, so which list you consult substantially changes the impression you get. How we compute this

Ranking positions are the editorial property of their publishers and are reproduced here with attribution for comparison and commentary. Follow each source link for its full list and methodology.

About Drexel

Drexel and Northeastern built the two deepest co-op programs in American higher education, and Drexel's version is the more flexible of the pair. Students choose a four-year path with one six-month co-op or a five-year path with three, working with a network of over 1,500 employers concentrated in Philadelphia's health care, pharmaceutical, engineering and technology sectors. Students on the five-year track typically earn meaningful wages during placements, offsetting part of the cost.

The accessibility is real and useful. A 79.4% acceptance rate and a 1240–1440 middle-50% SAT range mean Drexel is attainable for solid rather than exceptional students. For a student who wants co-op infrastructure and a major-city location without highly selective credentials, there are few comparable options.

The numbers that should give families pause are completion and debt. A 78.2% six-year graduation rate is low for a private research university, retention is 89.5%, and median federal debt at graduation is $25,325 — among the higher figures on this site. Combined with an average net price of $38,509, this is a school where the aid package and the specific program's outcomes deserve close scrutiny before depositing.

Strengths and honest considerations

Strengths

One of the two largest co-op programs in the country, with a flexible four- or five-year structure.
A 79.4% acceptance rate makes strong co-op infrastructure accessible without elite credentials.
Philadelphia location with dense health care, pharma and engineering employer networks.
A 9:1 student-faculty ratio, low for a university of this size.

Considerations

A 78.2% six-year graduation rate is low for a private research university.
Median federal debt of $25,325 at graduation is high.
Average net price of $38,509; compare carefully with public options.

Who this school genuinely fits

Students who want substantial paid co-op experience in a major city and do not have highly selective credentials — provided the aid package and the specific program's outcomes hold up.

What it costs

Published price, then what families actually pay after grants and scholarships.

Tuition & fees: $62,412
Undergraduates on Pell grants: 26.8%
Room & board: $18,096

Published cost of attendance comes to roughly $80,508 a year, but the average family pays $38,509 — a 52% difference. 26.8% of undergraduates receive Pell grants, the federal marker of low family income.

Net price varies enormously by income band, so run Drexel's net price calculator for your own household before drawing conclusions. Why net price is the only cost number that matters.

Programs and academics

Standout programs

Cooperative Education (5-year, 3 co-op option)
College of Nursing & Health Professions
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Biomedical Engineering

Student-faculty ratio: 9:1
First-year retention: 89.5%
Undergraduate enrollment: 13,233

Drexel: questions families ask

Both are large, mature co-op programs. Drexel is more flexible in structure, offering a four-year path with one six-month co-op or a five-year path with three, while Northeastern's model is more uniformly integrated. Drexel is also far less selective — 79.4% against Northeastern's — so it offers co-op infrastructure to students who would not be admitted to Northeastern.

At 78.2% over six years, it trails most private research universities. Contributing factors include a less selective admitted class, the complexity of sequencing co-op terms with coursework, and cost pressure on students carrying above-average debt. Ask the admissions office for graduation rates within your specific intended major, which vary widely.

Similar colleges

Matched on institutional character, overlapping majors and comparable cross-source standing.

Northeastern University

Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit

Northeastern built its identity on co-op: students complete up to three six-month paid full-time work terms before graduating, and roughly half receive a job offer from a co-op employer. That model has driven its acceptance rate from over 60% two decades ago to 5.2% today, and Princeton Review's loaded edition places its career-services office in the national top 10.

Acceptance rate: 5.2%
Average net price: $30,915
Median earnings (10 yr): $92,538
6-yr graduation rate: 90.5%

US News · National universities#46 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#113 of 500WSJ · U.S. colleges (WSJ)#168 of 500+3 more on profile

17,326 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 19 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, NYPrivate nonprofit

RIT is a career-first technical university where co-op is required in most majors, and it houses the National Technical Institute for the Deaf — making it the most accessible research-scale campus in the country for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Its game design program is widely cited in specialty rankings (though not on our current Princeton Review category badge for RIT), and a 66.9% acceptance rate makes it reachable for strong-but-not-perfect applicants.

Acceptance rate: 66.9%
Average net price: $34,906
Median earnings (10 yr): $76,571
6-yr graduation rate: 69.9%

US News · National universities#88 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#195 of 500WSJ · U.S. colleges (WSJ)#318 of 500+2 more on profile

13,215 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 34 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZPublic

Arizona is a major research university with world-leading astronomy and optical sciences programs — it operates the Mirror Lab that builds the world's largest telescope mirrors — and admits 87% of applicants with generous automatic merit aid for non-residents. The caution is completion: a 68% six-year graduation rate is low for a flagship.

Acceptance rate: 86.1%
Average net price: $16,674
Median earnings (10 yr): $59,979
6-yr graduation rate: 67.5%

US News · National universities#127 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#124 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#96 of 442+2 more on profile

42,537 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 20 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

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