Messiah University
Private College in Mechanicsburg, PA. Six-year graduation rate 75%. Median 10-year earnings $54,064.
Ten years after entry, the median Messiah University student earns $54,064 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 75% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation is $25,621, 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
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 79% puts Messiah University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 2,458, typical for a school of this reach. Yield sits at 29% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, and not a cutoff.
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 | 570–680 | 292 (52%) |
| SAT Math | 540–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 33 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Messiah University →Academics
A 75% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 89%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 19% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,379 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $29,408 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $19,393 at the $0–30k band to $31,847 at $110k+. 97% of students get grant aid averaging $25,118, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 59% take federal loans.
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 · 595 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 | $19,393 |
| $30–48k | $20,317 |
| $48–75k | $20,916 |
| $75–110k | $23,574 |
| $110k+ | $31,847 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,400 of these 2,379 students, totalling $12,637,249 — an average of $9,027 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cumberland 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)