+14%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Lehigh University rose 14% between 2006 and 2009 ($33.8k → $38.6k).
Pennsylvania · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 5,803 undergraduate students. 178 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Lehigh University
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Lehigh University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (0.4% → 0.0%).
+13%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Lehigh University rose 13% between 2021 and 2024 ($57.5k → $65.0k).
+79%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Lehigh University are 79% above the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($105.6k vs $59.0k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Pennsylvania
Each tile compares this institution to the Pennsylvania median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$105,584+19% · 6→10y
Pennsylvania median $49,859$88,810
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry89.2%+6% · '97→'09
Pennsylvania median 66.1%$19,500+46% · '97→'20
At program completion5,803+36% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS92.7%-0% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time29.3%-46% · '01→'24
latest cohort$62,180+171% · '00→'24
out-of-state $62,180SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
2.5%Median federal debt $19,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $105,584 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+36%
Lehigh University · undergrad enrollment rose
4,325 → 5,898
+171%
Lehigh University · in-state tuition rose
$24,000 → $64,980
+61%
Lehigh University · out-of-state tuition rose
$24,000 → $38,630
+46%
Lehigh University · median debt rose
$15,028 → $21,960
-95%
Lehigh University · cohort default rate fell
1.9% → 0.0%
+70%
Lehigh University · pell share rose
10.4% → 17.7%
+33%
Lehigh University · earnings_median_10yr rose
$79,400 → $105,584
+46%
Lehigh University · earnings_median_8yr rose
$66,800 → $97,731
+49%
Lehigh University · earnings_median_6yr rose
$59,600 → $88,810
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Finance and Financial Management Services.$134,072Computer Science.$129,863Industrial Engineering.$121,172Computer and Information Sciences, General.$120,356Mechanical Engineering.$118,309Accounting and Related Services.$118,286Computer Engineering.$113,884Business/Managerial Economics.$110,208Chemical Engineering.$107,647Marketing.$105,601Biomedical/Medical Engineering.$103,136Business Administration, Management and Operations.$102,043Mechanical Engineering.$101,225Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering.$99,040Educational Administration and Supervision.$94,799Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology.$93,613Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General.$90,977Civil Engineering.$90,786Civil Engineering.$89,920Political Science and Government.$88,889Neurobiology and Neurosciences.$84,790Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.$80,740International Relations and National Security Studies.$80,384Biology, General.$75,938
Showing top 24 of 27 ranked programs.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
27 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
ENGINEERING · CIP 14
Mechanical Engineering.$101,225Industrial Engineering.$121,172Chemical Engineering.$107,647Civil Engineering.$90,786Biomedical/Medical Engineering.$103,136Mechanical Engineering.$118,309Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering.$99,040Computer Engineering.$113,884Civil Engineering.$89,920
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES · CIP 26
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
PHYSICAL SCIENCES · CIP 40
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Lehigh University
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$1,768,801
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 5
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $19,495
- HS-only baseline · PA
- $38,100
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 52
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Pennsylvania
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Lehigh University graduates earn $X” — not “Lehigh University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Lehigh University caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.