Lafayette College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania · Private nonprofit · Unknown
Lafayette College is a private nonprofit university in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. The average family pays about $21,043 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Engineering, General, Business Administration, Management and Operations and Computer and Information Sciences, General, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 4.6 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Lafayette College is a private institution located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,043 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Lafayette College is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What GPA does my child need for Lafayette College?
Successful applicants to Lafayette College typically present unweighted GPAs at or near 4.0 with the most rigorous course load their school offers, including multiple AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
SAT and ACT scores Lafayette College typically admits
Many applicants to schools in this tier submit test scores, though the policy varies by year — check the latest test-optional status before deciding.
How much does Lafayette College actually cost?
Published tuition is $33,610 for in-state students and $33,610 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $10,980 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $21,043 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 32% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
Most popular majors at Lafayette College
The most popular undergraduate programs at Lafayette College, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Engineering, General, Business Administration, Management and Operations and Computer and Information Sciences, General. Across all programs, Lafayette College confers roughly 159 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its Engineering, General program report a median income of about $79,979 five years after entering college. Major popularity is a practical signal of where a school concentrates its teaching strength and where your child will find the deepest course offerings and peer community.
| Major | Graduates / year | Median earnings (5 yrs out) |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering, General | 45 | $79,979 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 33 | $66,921 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | 22 | — |
| Criminology | 15 | — |
| Human Resources Management and Services | 12 | — |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services | 11 | — |
| Psychology, General | 11 | $36,097 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods | 10 | $38,780 |
Is Lafayette College safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Lafayette College disclosed 5 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 4.6 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 2 violent offenses and 0 reported sexual assaults or VAWA offenses. Per-1,000-student rates matter more than raw counts when comparing schools, because larger universities mechanically report more incidents. Under the federal Clery Act, every college that receives federal aid must publish these numbers annually.
Other colleges in Pennsylvania parents ask about
- University of Pennsylvania6% acceptance
- Carnegie Mellon University54% acceptance
- Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus50% acceptance
- Lehigh University78% acceptance
- Drexel University11% acceptance
- University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus32% acceptance
- Temple University79% acceptance
- Villanova University83% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Lafayette College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Lafayette College recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Lafayette College
What GPA do I need for Lafayette College?
Successful applicants to Lafayette College typically present unweighted GPAs at or near 4.0 with the most rigorous course load their school offers, including multiple AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses.
What SAT or ACT score does Lafayette College typically admit?
Lafayette College does not publish standardized test ranges in the most recent reporting cycle. Test-optional policies have made scores less universally required, but submitting strong scores still helps when available.
How much does Lafayette College actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Lafayette College after grants and scholarships is $21,043 per year. That figure is more useful for budgeting than the published sticker price, because it reflects what families actually pay after aid is applied.
Is Lafayette College realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Lafayette College is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
Is Lafayette College a public or private school, and where is it located?
Lafayette College is a private nonprofit institution located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
What are the most popular majors at Lafayette College?
The largest undergraduate majors at Lafayette College by annual graduates are Engineering, General, Business Administration, Management and Operations and Computer and Information Sciences, General. The school awards about 159 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Lafayette College safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Lafayette College reported 5 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 4.6 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
Data sourced from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS, and Clery Act campus safety disclosures. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.