by our College Data Analytics TeamMessiah University is a private not-for-profit institution in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania enrolling 2,259 undergraduates. It accepts 79% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 75%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #398 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 8%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Messiah University ranks #398 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 8%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Messiah University was awarded 17 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Messiah is ranked #398 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
Messiah is also ranked #31 on the Best Colleges in Pennsylvania list.
See all of the rankings for Messiah University.
The acceptance rate at Messiah University is 79%. That’s higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you’ll need good grades and to be able to show that Messiah is a good fit for you.
About 52% of students accepted to Messiah submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 570 and 680. Math scores were between 540 and 670.
Messiah received ACT scores from 6% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 26 and 31.
Learn more about Messiah University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Messiah is an impressive 12 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Messiah University is 47%. This is comparable to the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 89% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Messiah University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Messiah for first-time, full-time students is 75%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Messiah University.
The current enrollment includes 2,259 undergraduates at Messiah.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Messiah University.
The typical net cost at Messiah is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $19,393 | $20,317 | $20,916 | $23,574 | $31,847 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Messiah, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Messiah, approximately 54% of students took out student loans averaging $9,027 a year. That adds up to $36,108 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Messiah University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Messiah University make around $54,064 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future Messiah University graduates since it is 10% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Messiah University make the most money.
Messiah University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs. Get more details about the location of Messiah University.
Contact details for Messiah University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 |
| Phone: | 7177662511 |
| Website: | www.messiah.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/MessiahCollege |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/messiahcollege |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 25 majors graduated from Messiah University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 881 | NA |
| Other Health Professions | 107 | $43,616 |
| Rehabilitation Professions | 64 | NA |
| Nursing | 62 | $62,117 |
| Business Administration & Management | 58 | $41,254 |
| Health Sciences & Services | 49 | $22,969 |
| Music | 47 | $59,416 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 35 | $42,316 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 30 | $41,733 |
| Marketing | 30 | $37,875 |
867 students took at least one online class at Messiah University.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Messiah University.
Interested in comparing Messiah? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References