| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Online only: the online campus of The Pennsylvania State University |
| Campuses | None. An administrative office in University Park, PA holds no classes |
| Who can enroll | Students in every US state (NC-SARA in 49 states, plus California approval) |
| Credentials | Associate, bachelor’s, undergraduate certificates and minors, graduate certificates, master’s and doctoral degrees; 236 programs on the program list in October 2026 |
| Schedule | 12- to 15-week courses in spring, summer and fall semesters |
| Accreditation | Middle States Commission on Higher Education, reaffirmed 27 June 2024, distance education included; programmatic: AACSB, ABET, CCNE, CAHME, CEPH for named programs |
| Federal aid | Yes for degree students (OPE ID 00332900); not for stand-alone certificates |
| Owner | The Pennsylvania State University, a public, state-related land-grant university |
| Founded | World Campus launched in January 1998 |
| Students | 13,774 in fall 2024 (8,051 undergraduate, 5,723 graduate) |
| Facts checked | 14 October 2026 |
Penn State’s online campus
Penn State World Campus is the online campus of The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania’s public, state-related land-grant university. It launched in January 1998 with a course in turfgrass management. World Campus is a unit of the university, not a separate school, so its degrees are Penn State degrees under the university’s accreditation. In fall 2024 it enrolled 13,774 students: 8,051 undergraduates, more than half of them part-time, and 5,723 graduate students. Its program list showed 236 programs in October 2026, from associate degrees and undergraduate certificates to doctorates, and World Campus describes itself as offering more than 200 degree and certificate programs. Everything is taught online in semesters with application deadlines, so it is not open-enrollment, self-paced study. The World Campus administrative office in University Park, PA is not a teaching site.
Programs on this page
All programs below are 100% online. Tuition is the 2026-27 rate: undergraduates pay $644 per credit until they have completed 60 credits and $692 after that, so “$644 / $692” means the rate depends on how far along a student is. A dash means the sources we checked gave no figure.
| Program | Credential | Credits | Accreditation or exam prep | 2026-27 tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | BS | 120 | AACSB (as listed by Penn State) | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Business Administration | Associate in Science | 60 | — | $644 per credit |
| Business | BS | 120 | — | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Finance | BS | 120 | AACSB | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Financial Planning | Undergraduate certificate | 18 | No federal aid (nondegree) | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Marketing | BS | 120 | AACSB | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Labor and Human Resources | AS; BA or BS; certificate | 60; 123; 12 | Certificate: no federal aid | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Information Sciences and Technology | Associate in Science | 60 | Helps prepare for CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, MCSA, CCNA (exams not included) | $644 per credit |
| Information Sciences and Technology | BS | 125 | — | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Software Engineering | BS | 126 minimum | ABET EAC | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Criminal Justice | AS and BS | — | — | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Digital Arts | Undergraduate certificate | 15 | No federal aid (nondegree) | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Digital Multimedia Design | Bachelor of Design | 120 | — | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Health Policy and Administration | BS | 120 | — | $644 / $692 per credit |
| Health Administration | MHA | 49 | CAHME | Graduate rate, $1,048 to $1,286 per credit by group |
| Public Health | MPH | 42 | CEPH | Graduate rate |
| Nursing (RN to BSN) | BS | 120 | CCNE; for licensed RNs, not NCLEX preparation | $644 / $692 per credit |
Penn State lists AACSB accreditation for the online accounting, finance and marketing bachelor’s degrees. The Software Engineering BS is accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission and taught with Penn State Behrend’s School of Engineering, the RN to BSN is CCNE-accredited, the online MHA has held CAHME accreditation since January 2022, and the MPH from the College of Medicine is CEPH-accredited. World Campus also teaches cybersecurity, project and supply chain management, homeland security and many other subjects not covered in detail here.
What the main programs cover
Information Sciences and Technology AS
The 60-credit associate degree has a common core of IST 140, 210, 220 (networking and telecommunications), 256 and 260W, plus an internship or a team project. Students then choose an option. The Networking option adds four courses on PC hardware, networking essentials, network administration and TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS and server management, and Penn State says it can help prepare students for CompTIA A+, Network+ and Server+, MCSA and CCNA. The Application Development option adds IST 242 and HCDD 311 instead. Exam fees are not included, and some credits may transfer into the IST bachelor’s degree.
Software Engineering BS
This degree of at least 126 credits is taught with Penn State Behrend’s School of Engineering and is accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission. Before entering the major, students must pass CHEM 110, MATH 140, MATH 141 and PHYS 211 with a C or better and hold a 2.0 GPA; transfer students with fewer than 45 credits need a 2.7. Courses include SWENG 411, 421 and 431, CMPSC 465 and 431W, and CMPEN 441 and 461. The degree ends with a two-course capstone, SWENG 480 and 481, built around an industry-sponsored project.
Digital Arts undergraduate certificate
The certificate is five 3-credit courses, each passed with a C or better. Students take ART 10 or ART 20, then one of DART 202 (2D digital art), 203 (3D), 204 (animation) or 206 (web design), then ART 211Y, DART 300 Digital Portfolio Elements and DART 412 Portfolio Design and Professional Practices. A high school diploma or GED is enough to apply. The course pages name no software. Because it is a nondegree program, students pay without federal aid; those who want a degree can look at the Digital Multimedia Design bachelor’s.
RN to BSN
The RN to BSN is a 120-credit bachelor’s degree for nurses who have finished an RN program or already hold an RN license in the United States. At least 36 of the last 60 credits must be earned at Penn State, and up to 33 core credits can be awarded by portfolio review. Direct-care hours are built into NURS 352 and the NURS 475 capstone. Students design them with faculty approval in a clinical or community setting near home and need an active RN license in that state. The program does not prepare anyone for the NCLEX-RN.
Health Policy and Administration: BS and MHA
The 120-credit Health Policy and Administration BS is a management and policy degree, not clinical training, and Penn State names no programmatic accreditor for it. The 49-credit Master of Health Administration is the graduate route; its online format earned CAHME accreditation in January 2022, for seven years, per a Penn State announcement. Students interested in population health can instead take the 42-credit Master of Public Health from the College of Medicine, which is CEPH-accredited. All three are graduate or degree programs, so federal aid applies.
Tuition and paying for it
World Campus charges one rate to every student, wherever they live, with no in-state or out-of-state split. These are the 2026-27 rates (fall 2026 to summer 2027), per the Penn State Bursar’s World Campus rate table:
- Undergraduate, part-time (11 credits or fewer): $644 per credit with 59 or fewer credits completed, which covers associate degree students, and $692 per credit with 60 or more completed.
- Undergraduate, full-time (12 to 19 credits): a flat $7,833 per semester in the lower division and $8,455 in the upper division. Each credit above 19 is charged at the per-credit rate.
- Graduate: $1,048 to $1,286 per credit, depending on the program group. The MBA group is the highest at $1,286; artificial intelligence, business analytics, data analytics, finance and marketing analytics programs are $1,089; programs not in a named group are $1,048.
- Fees: World Campus is not on Penn State’s 2026-27 Student Initiated Fee table. The application fee is $65, or $75 for international applicants. Course materials are extra, and transcripts, credit by exam and proctoring can cost more.
- Increases: Penn State’s trustees approved a 1% rise for World Campus on 18 July 2025, taking the lower-division rate from $638 to $644. Rates for 2027-28 are already published at $657 and $706 per credit.
Degree students can use federal financial aid (Title IV). Stand-alone certificates such as Digital Arts, Financial Planning and the Labor and Human Resources certificate are nondegree programs, and Penn State says financial aid is not available to nondegree students.
Military students. With Penn State’s Military Grant-in-Aid, undergraduate tuition for 2026-27 drops to $390 per credit, or $140 per credit after military Tuition Assistance. It covers active-duty, National Guard and Reserve members of all branches and their spouses, but not the Individual Ready Reserve or inactive Guard, and it applies to undergraduate courses only. Military Times ranked World Campus No. 1 for online education in its Best for Vets: Colleges 2025 list, published in November 2025.
Admissions and schedule
Undergraduate applicants need a high school diploma or GED, self-reported transcripts and any college transcripts. Adult learners and transfer students do not need the SAT or ACT, and most international applicants need a TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo score. Some majors set extra conditions: software engineering has entrance-to-major courses and a minimum GPA, and the RN to BSN requires RN training or a license. Courses run 12 to 15 weeks, in spring, summer and fall. For spring 2027, degree applications close on 31 October 2026 and certificate applications on 18 December 2026, and classes start on 11 January 2027. Students in any US state can enroll: Penn State takes part in NC-SARA and is individually approved in California, which is not a SARA member.
Middle States accreditation
Penn State, including World Campus, is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Middle States last reaffirmed its accreditation on 27 June 2024, includes distance education in its scope, and has scheduled the next self-study evaluation for 2031-32.
Penn State is closing seven Commonwealth Campuses after the spring 2027 semester under a plan its trustees ratified in 2025, and on 27 August 2026 Middle States approved the university’s teach-out plans for the six of them named on its record, effective 10 May 2027; World Campus is not part of the closures.
Graduation, retention and licensure
Federal data on College Navigator (IPEDS, checked October 2026) show:
- Graduation rate: 34% of full-time, first-time bachelor’s students who started in fall 2018 graduated within six years (150% of normal time).
- Transfer students: 52% of full-time students who transferred in and started in 2016-17 earned a bachelor’s degree within eight years. For part-time students who transferred in, the eight-year bachelor’s rate was 35%.
- Retention: 66% of full-time and 59% of part-time students who started in fall 2023 returned in fall 2024.
World Campus has no prelicensure nursing program, so there is no NCLEX pass rate to report; the RN to BSN admits nurses who are already licensed. We found no published job placement rates on World Campus’s program or consumer-information pages.
Before you enroll
- Most undergraduates study part-time, and completion takes time. Only 34% of full-time, first-time bachelor’s students finished within six years.
- Certificates get no federal aid. Stand-alone certificates, including Digital Arts and Financial Planning, are nondegree programs and cannot be paid for with federal financial aid.
- The electrical engineering certificate is not electrician training. It is a 9-credit graduate certificate for people who already hold an ABET-accredited electrical engineering bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent math), and Penn State says engineering technology degrees are generally not equivalent. World Campus has no electrician, HVAC or building-trades program.
- The nursing degree is for nurses who are already RNs. The RN to BSN does not lead to an RN license, and its clinical hours require an active RN license in the state where you complete them.
- Semesters, not self-paced study. Courses run on fixed 12- to 15-week terms with application deadlines, so you cannot start on any day.
What students say
On Niche, Penn State World Campus is rated 4.56 out of 5 from 413 reviews, with an overall Niche grade of B- (checked 14 October 2026).
- Praised: a smooth enrollment process with an assigned enrollment coach; easy-to-use online systems; supportive advisers; responsive professors who give useful feedback; group projects that keep students in touch with classmates.
- Criticized: some courses that are mostly PDFs and discussion posts, with no recorded lectures and little contact with faculty; a heavier workload than expected in an introductory course; an identity check that assumed a US passport, which made enrollment hard for an international student.
We could not see when the reviews were posted, so we could not check whether they arrived in bursts; nothing in the visible reviews suggested an invited or bursty pattern. We found no Trustpilot or GradReports page for World Campus with 25 or more reviews.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Business
- Accounting BS (AACSB, as listed by Penn State); Master of Professional Accounting; Accounting and Accounting Foundations graduate certificates
- Business Administration Associate in Science
- Business BS; MBA; Business Management Foundations graduate certificate
- Finance BS (AACSB); Financial Planning undergraduate certificate; Finance minor; Master of Finance
- Marketing BS (AACSB); Marketing Analytics graduate certificate and master's; B2B Marketing graduate certificate
- Labor and Human Resources AS, BA, BS, undergraduate certificate and minor; Human Resources and Employment Relations master's
- Entrepreneurship minor (within a degree); Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship graduate certificate and master's
Computer and Information Technology
- Information Sciences and Technology Associate in Science (Networking or Application Development option)
- Information Sciences and Technology BS
- Software Engineering BS (ABET EAC, with Penn State Behrend); Software Engineering master's; Software Architecture and Design graduate certificate
- Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations BS and MPS; Security and Risk Analysis undergraduate certificate
- Enterprise Technology Integration BS; Enterprise Resource Planning with SAP undergraduate certificate
Criminal Justice and Law
- Criminal Justice Associate in Science and BS; Criminal Justice minor
- Criminal Justice Policy and Administration MPS; criminal justice graduate certificates
Graphics, Design, and Arts
- Digital Arts undergraduate certificate
- Digital Multimedia Design, Bachelor of Design
Healthcare Administration
- Health Policy and Administration BS
- Master of Health Administration (CAHME)
- Master of Public Health (CEPH); Public Health Preparedness graduate certificate
Nursing (for licensed RNs)
- RN to BSN, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (CCNE; post-licensure only)
- Nursing Forensics and Nursing Informatics undergraduate certificates
Graduate engineering
- Electrical Engineering postbaccalaureate certificate and Master of Engineering (for engineering graduates)
Campus Locations
100% Online , Online,