
Pennsylvania State University, including Penn State DuBois, is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The accreditation applies to the university; DuBois is a Penn State campus, not a separately accredited college.
Institutional accreditation means an external accreditor evaluates the university against its standards. It is relevant to federal student-aid eligibility and can matter when students seek to transfer credits, although another institution decides which credits it will accept. Professional or programmatic accreditation is different: it applies to a particular program and may matter for licensure or certification. Students considering a profession with licensing requirements should check the accreditation and state eligibility of their specific program, not rely on university-wide accreditation alone.
First-year applicants to Penn State DuBois generally apply through Penn State's undergraduate admissions process and submit a high school record or an accepted high school equivalency credential. Penn State is not an open-admission institution, although the reported admission rate for this campus is high.
Admissions records identify the secondary school record and GPA as required considerations. Class rank and recommendation letters are not generally required, while college-preparatory coursework can be considered. SAT and ACT requirements can change by entry term, so applicants should check Penn State's test policy for the semester in which they intend to enroll rather than assume an older test-optional rule still applies. Among enrolled first-time students in the reported class, about 24% submitted SAT scores and fewer than 1% submitted ACT scores; those figures describe submissions, not a minimum score for admission.
The reported first-year applicant pool comprised 451 applicants, of whom 438 were admitted - approximately 97%. This is a campus-level historical result, not an assurance of admission to a particular major or future entering class. Applicants whose schooling was outside the United States may also need to meet Penn State's English-language proficiency and document requirements. Program-specific criteria and application timing should be checked against the intended major and entry term.
The reported standard undergraduate application fee is $65. That is an application charge, separate from tuition, housing expenses, or any later enrollment-related payment.
Penn State provides an application-fee waiver process for eligible applicants with financial need. Applicants should review the waiver options in the application process and seek approval or instructions before paying; a fee already submitted may not be refundable. A transfer applicant or someone applying through a special program should confirm the fee shown in their own application, since an undergraduate fee should not be assumed to apply to every applicant category.
Penn State operates Army, Air Force, and Navy ROTC opportunities within the university, but applicants should not assume that a unit or its required classes meet at Penn State DuBois. Campus participation and any cross-enrollment arrangement need to be confirmed for the student's intended branch and schedule.
ROTC combines college study with military training; scholarship eligibility, physical and citizenship requirements, and eventual service obligations vary by branch and participation route. A DuBois applicant interested in commissioning should speak with the relevant Penn State ROTC program before enrolling and ask whether participation is feasible while taking classes at DuBois, particularly if a later move to University Park is planned.
Penn State DuBois accepts transfer applicants through Penn State's admissions process, and students may seek entry for fall, spring, or summer. Admission to Penn State and acceptance of particular courses toward a degree are separate decisions.
Transfer applicants should submit official records from every college attended and review any high school record requirements that apply to their credit history. Penn State evaluates outside coursework for transferability; whether a transferred course satisfies a major, general-education, or elective requirement depends on the degree audit. The university's transfer-credit equivalency resources can help with planning, but an official evaluation is the more reliable basis for a graduation plan.
Records indicate that Penn State generally considers credit from other accredited institutions and has pathways for certain examination or recommended credits, including CLEP, DSST, and American Council on Education recommendations. Credit awards and their application to a major remain subject to Penn State rules. Applicants with substantial prior study should ask the intended program which upper-level courses must be completed through Penn State and whether the major can be finished at DuBois.
Penn State DuBois students can explore international study through Penn State's university-wide education-abroad programs. A program's availability to an individual student depends on its eligibility rules, academic calendar, major requirements, and approval for the credits to count toward the degree.
Penn State's options include programs of different lengths and formats, rather than a single DuBois-specific study-abroad track. A student planning to move to another Penn State campus through 2+2 should discuss timing early: an overseas semester may affect prerequisite sequences or the planned campus-change date. Before committing, students should obtain academic approval for proposed courses and ask financial-aid advisers how their aid would apply to the particular program. Program charges, travel, and living expenses may differ substantially from a semester in DuBois.
28% of admitted students enrolled (123 of 438)
Application fee
$65Early Decision
NoEarly Action
Yes, deadline November 1Percent of students submitting ACT scores
0.88%Percent of students submitting SAT scores
23.89%High school completions
General Educational Development (GED) requiredComputer purchase/lease plan is available in the institution
YesSecondary school GPA
RequiredSecondary school rank
Neither required nor recommendedSecondary school record
RequiredCompletion of college-preparatory program
Considered but not requiredRecommendations
Neither required nor recommendedFormal demonstration of competencies
Neither required nor recommendedAdmission test scores
Considered but not requiredTOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language
RequiredOther Test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)
Neither required nor recommendedOpen admission policy
NoDual credit
NoCredit for life experiences
YesAdvanced placement (AP) credits
YesOrientation program
YesStudy abroad
YesStudent can complete their preparation in certain areas of specialization
NoPreparation at another institution required
NoApproved by the state for initial certification or licensure of teacher
NoGenerally accepts credits
YesAccept ACE recommendation for credit
YesPossible transfer
Fall, Spring, SummerData last updated on November 2, 2026
Data sources: IPEDS 2024-25, Peterson 2026, College Scorecard 10/2026, Clery 2024 (2023-24), OpenAlex 2026
Figures on this profile come from federal and third-party datasets in the editions listed above and are refreshed periodically, so they may differ from what the institution currently reports. Confirm costs, deadlines and requirements with the school before making decisions.