Messiah University Overview
Messiah University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.
What Is Messiah University Known For?
- The 2% student loan default rate at Messiah is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Messiah.
- For the 2019-2020 academic year, 57% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Messiah makes roughly $48,883 a year. This is 20% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
- The average Messiah student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
Featured schools near , edit

Messiah University Rankings
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Messiah.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Messiah has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Physical Education Teaching & Coaching Graduate Degree Schools | College Factual |
#13 | Best Teacher Education Subject Specific Graduate Degree Schools | College Factual |
#16 | Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Degree Schools | College Factual |
#25 | Best Music Schools | College Factual |
#57 | Best Teaching Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Teaching Degree Search |
#81 | Best Education Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Messiah University?

Contact details for Messiah are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 |
Phone: | 717-766-2511 |
Website: | www.messiah.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/MessiahCollege |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/messiahcollege |
How Do I Get Into Messiah?
You can apply to Messiah online at: www.messiah.edu/applynow
Admission Requirements for Messiah
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Messiah?
Approximately 36% of accepted students are men and 64% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 77%, and the acceptance rate for women is 78%.
Average Test Scores
About 92% 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 550 and 660. Math scores were between 530 and 650.
Can I Afford Messiah University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Messiah, approximately 73% of students took out student loans averaging $10,409 a year. That adds up to $41,636 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Messiah is 2.3%. 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.
Messiah University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 756 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 2,424 full-time undergraduates at Messiah, 40% are male and 60% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Messiah University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 68 |
Black or African American | 82 |
Hispanic or Latino | 141 |
White | 1,963 |
International Students | 78 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 92 |
Geographic Diversity
Pennsylvania students aren't the only ones who study at Messiah University. At this time, 29 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 32 countries are represented at Messiah. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Malaysia, China, and Vietnam.
Online Learning at Messiah University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Messiah has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 71st most popular in Pennsylvania for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Growth Rankings of Messiah
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Messiah University was 3.0%. This is the #1,603 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Messiah regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Messiah majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Business, Management & Marketing | 8% |
Health & Physical Education | 50% |
Health Professions | 11% |
Marketing | 13% |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | 45% |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | 21% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Messiah ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Messiah.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Marketing | #234 | |
Health & Physical Education | #256 | |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | #283 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Messiah University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*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.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Badagnani under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
![]() |
Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More > |