Mercyhurst University
Private College in Erie, PA. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $47,452.
Students who entered Mercyhurst University land at a median of $47,452 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 65% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $25,305, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Mercyhurst University accepts 81% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 3,567 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. About 20% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
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 Mercyhurst University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 65%, meaning about one in three students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention of 80% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 34% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,215 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $25,946 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $22,626 at $0–30k, $16,748 at $110k+. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $30,837, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 67% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 575 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 | $22,626 |
| $30–48k | $22,429 |
| $48–75k | $17,197 |
| $75–110k | $21,665 |
| $110k+ | $16,748 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,483 of these 2,215 students, totalling $9,583,605 — an average of $6,462 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Erie 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)