Mercer University
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 9.5-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 127 Title IV programs, 45 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 82 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing45 · 35.4%
- No Data82 · 64.6%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
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.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 10
Action history · 10
- Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Aug 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Feb 2023Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary WithdrawalCommission on English Language Program Accreditation · English Language
- Aug 2022Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
- Jun 2021Renewal of AccreditationLiaison Committee on Medical Education · Medicine (MED) - Programs leading to the M.D. degree
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 2,110 students received $12.3M in Pell grants, alongside $131.7M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
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.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 2,297 borrowers who entered repayment, 24 (1.0%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* 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.
Academic programs at Mercer
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 12
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus26
- Non-campus1
- Public property2
Includes 16 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Gender1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Mercer vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Mercer selected for federal comparison reporting.
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectMercer University | 70% | — | 9,196 | $23,847 | R2 Research |
| 49% | 64.2% | 4,252 | $37,702 | R2 Research | |
| 89% | 21.7% | 9,322 | $28,719 | R2 Research | |
| 62% | 57.7% | 8,992 | $35,639 | R2 Research | |
| 63% | 73.2% | 20,910 | $30,371 | R2 Research | |
| 84% | 52.4% | 9,714 | $30,365 | R2 Research | |
| Peer group median | 67% | 57.7% | 9,259 | $30,368 |
Institutions like Mercer
Explore the federal data for institutions in Mercer's comparison group.
- R2 ResearchGeorgia
Clark Atlanta University
Grad rate49%Admit rate64.2%Enrollment4,252Net price$37,702View data - R2 ResearchNorth Carolina
Wake Forest University
Grad rate89%Admit rate21.7%Enrollment9,322Net price$28,719View data - R2 ResearchFlorida
Florida Institute of Technology
Grad rate62%Admit rate57.7%Enrollment8,992Net price$35,639View data - R2 ResearchFlorida
Nova Southeastern University
Grad rate63%Admit rate73.2%Enrollment20,910Net price$30,371View data - R2 ResearchCalifornia
University of San Diego
Grad rate84%Admit rate52.4%Enrollment9,714Net price$30,365View data
Mercer Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The office provides quality information and services to support planning, decision-making, accreditation, and assessment at all organizational levels. The office also satisfies reporting requirements of outside agencies and organizations.
Visit IR office page- Kevin P. Gwaltney, PhDVice Provost for Institutional Effectiveness
- Troy R. Nash, PhDDirector of University Assessment
- Learty L. (Troy) Shaw, PhDDirector of Institutional Research and Decision Support
- Alicia M. Dean, MS, MEdAssociate Director of Institutional Research and Decision Support
- Ellen M. ByronInstitutional Effectiveness Specialist
Frequently asked questions about Mercer University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Mercer.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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