Mars Hill University
Private College in Mars Hill, NC. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $44,781.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $44,781 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 45%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $26,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Mars Hill University accepts 68% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 1,642 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield sits at 31% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Mars Hill University →Academics
Completion is middling: 45% finish inside six years. Retention of 69% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 996 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $18,925 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($17,021 versus $21,972), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $30,610 on average. Most students borrow — 62% take federal loans to cover the gap.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 313 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $17,021 |
| $30–48k | $17,020 |
| $48–75k | $20,628 |
| $75–110k | $21,637 |
| $110k+ | $21,972 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 622 of these 996 students, totalling $5,381,790 — an average of $8,652 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Madison County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)