by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will never be charged the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The total price of attendance at Mercyhurst University can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can Mercyhurst offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep going to find out what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Mercyhurst University.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. Keep in mind that certain forms of assistance are more beneficial than others, and aid amounts differ from student to student.
For incoming first-year students at Mercyhurst University, 100% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind approximately 575 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $33,949 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 98% | $30,422 |
| Federal Pell grants | 36% | $5,321 |
| State/local grants | 33% | $5,942 |
| Federal student loans | 67% | $5,292 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At Mercyhurst, roughly 93% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $30,789 (for some 2121 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 93% | $30,789 |
| Federal Pell grants | 31% | $5,352 |
| Federal student loans | 65% | $6,462 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $40,113.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $22,667 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $23,031 |
| Over $75,000 | $30,845 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
Net price is the cost remaining after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the sticker price, and it is the most useful single number for estimating real cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $19,444 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $27,263 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Mercyhurst’s net price calculator: mercyhurst.edu/npc.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Mercyhurst owes $19,500 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $25,305 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $268.28/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Mercyhurst.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,250 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,976 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,998 |
| Middle income | $19,000 |
| High income | $19,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Mercyhurst.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The totals below capture Stafford lending at Mercyhurst:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 17851 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $331,789,120 |
If you are a veteran or active-duty service member, the GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the primary federal programs you can use at this school.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 63 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $992,940 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $15,761 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 13 |
| Total DoD amount | $22,406 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,724 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.