William Carey University is a private not-for-profit institution in Hattiesburg, Mississippi enrolling 2,201 undergraduates. It accepts 60% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 60%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,616 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 31%), 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.
William Carey University ranks #1,616 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 31%.
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.
William Carey University was awarded 13 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked William Carey University as #1,616 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
William Carey University is also ranked #7 on the Best Colleges in Mississippi list.
See all of the rankings for William Carey University.
William Carey University has an acceptance rate of 60%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for William Carey University.
About 7% of students accepted to William Carey University submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 690. Math scores were between 500 and 600.
William Carey University received ACT scores from 93% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 19 and 25.
Learn more about William Carey University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1, William Carey University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at William Carey University is 57%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
William Carey University has a freshmen retention rate of 78%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at William Carey University for first-time, full-time students is 60%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at William Carey University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 2,201 undergraduates at William Carey University.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at William Carey University.
The average net price of William Carey University 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,224 | $12,411 | $15,320 | $18,436 | $19,701 |
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 William Carey University, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At William Carey University, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $7,829 a year. That adds up to $31,316 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 5.8%. 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 William Carey University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from William Carey University make around $43,087 per year during the early years of their employment. This is about 12% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at William Carey University make the most money.
William Carey University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of William Carey University.
Contact information for William Carey University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 710 William Carey Parkway, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 |
| Phone: | 6013186051 |
| Website: | www.wmcarey.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carey_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/WmCareyU |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/WmCareyU |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 20 majors graduated from William Carey 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 | 1,288 | NA |
| Educational Administration | 227 | $49,115 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 191 | $37,384 |
| Medicine | 154 | NA |
| Nursing | 122 | $60,508 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 117 | $37,072 |
| General Biology | 64 | $23,191 |
| Special Education | 59 | $39,378 |
| Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences | 48 | NA |
| Health/Medical Admin Services | 47 | NA |
1,903 students took at least one online class at William Carey 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 William Carey University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to William Carey University? Match them up 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