BaccalaureatePrivate nonprofit

Mars Hill University

Mars Hill, North Carolina·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·mhu.edu
6-yr Graduation
45%
+5.5pp vs Baccalaureate
Total enrollment
1,110
peer median 963
Avg net price
$20,313
-$708 vs Baccalaureate
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
1,642
1,642 candidates competed
Admitted
1,115
67.9% acceptance rate
Enrolled
347
31.1% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
45%+5.5pp vs Baccalaureate
4-year graduation
34%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
45%
Full-time retention
69%

Pell equity

12.0pp gap
Pell recipients
41%
Non-Pell
53%

Non-Pell students graduate at a 12.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 39 Title IV programs, 5 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 34 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
39
Passing
5
12.8% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

39programs
  • Passing5 · 12.8%
  • No Data34 · 87.2%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
0
Safe
5
No data
34

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

5
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Bachelor Degree · Security And Protective Services
+28.5%
$41,384 vs $32,203
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Bachelor Degree · Education
+46.5%
$47,176 vs $32,203
Social Work
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
+58.5%
$51,053 vs $32,203
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+79.3%
$57,743 vs $32,203
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+132.0%
$74,707 vs $32,203

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

4
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Bachelor Degree · Security And Protective Services
62%
$25,844 debt · $41,384 earn
Social Work
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
50%
$25,609 debt · $51,053 earn
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
45%
$26,000 debt · $57,743 earn
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
33%
$24,376 debt · $74,707 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1926Next review Dec 2032

Programmatic accreditations · 4

Action history · 8

  1. Nov 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Dec 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. Apr 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the baccalaureate degree levels
  4. Mar 2021Renewal of Accreditation
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Dec 2018Removal of Monitoring Status
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$17,372
$30–48k$17,337
$48–75k$20,703
$75–110k$22,308
$110k+$24,291

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$20,313
-$707vs Baccalaureate median $21,021
Federal loans
63.2%
In-state tuition
$37,270
Out-of-state
$37,270

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 526 students received $3.0M in Pell grants, alongside $4.4M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
526
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$3.0M
$2,996,472 total
Direct Loans
$4.4M
1,057 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

1k
20
1k
21
0k
22
0k
23
1k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$1.8M
465 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$1.9M
534 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$68K
6 loan awards
Parent PLUS$681K
52 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 488 borrowers who entered repayment, 14 (2.8%) defaulted within three years above the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
2.8%
+0.5pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
488
Defaulted
14
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
14.4%
2017
11.1%
2018
10.9%
2019
2.8%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Mars Hill

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs47
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

242 total completions
01Business
7028.9%
02Health Professions
3414.0%
03Security/Protective
2510.3%
04Biological Sciences
249.9%
05Education
197.9%
06Psychology
187.4%
07Parks/Recreation
177.0%
08Public Admin
156.2%
09Visual/Performing Arts
145.8%
10Social Sciences
62.5%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
1,110
12-mo unduplicated
1,114
Undergraduate
1,059
Graduate
55

Gender split

Men
51%570
Women
49%544

Race / ethnicity composition

White
63.0%
Black
18.0%
Hispanic
9.8%
Non-resident
4.2%
Unknown
1.9%
Asian
1.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.8%
Two or more
0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.2%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

Athletes
536
374 M · 162 W
Women athletes
30.2%
Athletic aid
$4.4M
Total student aid
Budget
$8.1M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$3.1M
$1.3M
Recruiting expense
$35K
$8K
Head-coach salaries
$36K
$33K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 12

Football
141 M ·
$1.9M
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)
61 M · 56 W
$457K
Soccer
61 M · 32 W
$911K
Lacrosse
43 M · 22 W
$655K
Baseball
54 M ·
$514K
Basketball
18 M · 17 W
$972K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
5.81
6 offenses · 1,032 students

3-year trend

1.912 yrs ago2.801 yr ago5.81Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
11
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
5
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Burglary
5
Aggravated assault
1

By location

6total
  • On campus6

Includes 4 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
1
Dating violence
1
Stalking
2 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons21
Drugs113
Liquor011

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Data quality: 2 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
11.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
74

Mars Hill vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Mars Hill selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectMars Hill University
45%1,110$20,313Baccalaureate
Shaw University
22%80.2%964$14,083Baccalaureate
William Peace University
45%94.3%722$21,728Baccalaureate
Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte
34%79.9%1,184$28,901Baccalaureate
Saint Augustine's University
25%33.8%175$17,740Baccalaureate
Montreat College
48%69.2%962$26,328Baccalaureate
Peer group median40%79.9%963$21,021

Frequently asked questions about Mars Hill University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Mars Hill.

What is the graduation rate at Mars Hill University?

Mars Hill University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 45% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Mars Hill University?

Mars Hill University reports a total enrollment of 1,110 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Mars Hill University?

The average net price at Mars Hill University is $20,313 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Mars Hill University?

Mars Hill University's yield rate is 31.1%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Mars Hill University located?

Mars Hill University is located in Mars Hill, North Carolina 28754.

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