Messiah University

Overview

Rankings

• #9 Best Education Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #11 Best Engineering Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #19 Best Communications Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #22 Best MBA Programs in Pennsylvania
• #26 Best Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #36 Best Business Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #36 Best Online Criminal Justice Programs in Pennsylvania
• #37 Best Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Messiah University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a private institution in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Messiah University admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 79%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,236. The graduation rate is roughly 77%.

Acceptance Rate

79%

Retention Rate

89%

SAT Average

1236

ACT Midpoint

27

SAT Range

1110–1350

ACT Range

26–31

Full-Time Faculty

47%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$9,179

Student–Faculty Ratio

13:1

Diversity Index

0.42

First-Gen Students

18%

Applicants

2,438

Admitted

1,936

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Messiah University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 31% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school many admits weigh against other offers.

Yield Rate

31%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

51%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

5%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Messiah University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Messiah University is $42,240, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $26,502. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $19,393 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $25,621 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$42,240

Out-of-State

$42,240

Avg Net Price

$26,502

Median Debt

$25,621

Pell Grant Rate

20%

Federal Loan Rate

54%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Messiah University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Messiah University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Messiah University earn a median of $54,064, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$50,192

8 Years

$50,641

10 Years

$54,064

Debt-to-Earnings

0.47x

Earning > $25K

67%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Messiah University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Messiah University is a measurable contributor to upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.19%, in line with strong performers nationally. Access is narrower: only about 2.5% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 48% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $97,100, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.19%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

48.0%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

2.5%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$131,925

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Messiah University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Messiah University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.77, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.02), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 7% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.77

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.02

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

6.9%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$6,904,800

Investment Income

$-9,395,971

Top Programs

The fields Messiah University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Health Professions 17% $74,317 early-career
• Business & Marketing 16% $63,697 early-career
• Education 14% $48,266 early-career
• Engineering 9% $72,032 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 8% $25,230 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 5% $35,271 early-career
• Psychology 5% $29,935 early-career
• Communications 4% $40,390 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.