R2 ResearchPrivate nonprofitMedical

Mercer University

Macon, Georgia·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·mercer.edu
6-yr Graduation
70%
+3.5pp vs R2 Research
Total enrollment
9,196
peer median 9,259
Avg net price
$22,350
-$8.9k vs R2 Research
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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
9,813
9,813 candidates competed
Admitted
6,760
68.9% acceptance rate
Enrolled
859
12.7% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

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

Overall completion
70%+3.5pp vs R2 Research
4-year graduation
61%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
70%
Full-time retention
82%

Pell equity

10.0pp gap
Pell recipients
63%
Non-Pell
73%

Non-Pell students graduate at a 10.0-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 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.

Total programs
127
Passing
45
35.4% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

127programs
  • Passing45 · 35.4%
  • No Data82 · 64.6%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
1
Watch
2
Safe
42
No data
82

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.

45
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+0.6%
$57,040 vs $56,700
Human Services General
Master's Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
+16.3%
$53,659 vs $46,158
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Master's Degree · Psychology
+18.0%
$54,555 vs $46,221
Social Sciences General
Master's Degree · Social Sciences
+26.3%
$67,767 vs $53,672
Student Counseling and Personnel Services
Master's Degree · Education
+27.7%
$59,236 vs $46,391
Public Health
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+29.2%
$73,262 vs $56,700
Theological and Ministerial Studies
Master's Degree · Theology And Religious Vocations
+31.8%
$58,680 vs $44,535
Educational Administration and Supervision
Master's Degree · Education
+33.0%
$61,710 vs $46,391

Near the line (±5%)

Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.

1
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+0.6%
+$340

Debt vs earnings

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

40
Medicine
Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
178%
$211,500 debt · $118,913 earn
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Doctoral Degree · Psychology
174%
$164,020 debt · $94,134 earn
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
147%
$83,629 debt · $57,040 earn
Law
Doctoral Degree · Legal Professions And Studies
136%
$122,808 debt · $90,359 earn
Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration
Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
132%
$173,278 debt · $131,552 earn
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions
Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
106%
$87,149 debt · $82,473 earn
Theological and Ministerial Studies
Master's Degree · Theology And Religious Vocations
105%
$61,500 debt · $58,680 earn
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Master's Degree · Psychology
104%
$56,514 debt · $54,555 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 1911Next review Dec 2026

Programmatic accreditations · 10

Action history · 10

  1. Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Aug 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. Feb 2023Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary Withdrawal
    Commission on English Language Program Accreditation · English Language
  4. Aug 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
  5. Jun 2021Renewal of Accreditation
    Liaison Committee on Medical Education · Medicine (MED) - Programs leading to the M.D. degree

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$18,650
$30–48k$20,919
$48–75k$22,627
$75–110k$24,610
$110k+$26,399

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

Avg net price (private)
$22,350
-$8,934vs R2 Research median $31,284
Federal loans
61.0%
In-state tuition
$40,890
Out-of-state
$40,890

Federal aid volume & trends

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

In AY 2024–25, 2,102 students received $12.3M in Pell grants, alongside $126.9M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
2,102
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$12.3M
$12,258,572 total
Direct Loans
$126.9M
9,448 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

2k
20
2k
21
2k
22
2k
23
2k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$8.4M
2,174 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$11.2M
2,505 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$69.8M
3,150 loan awards
Parent PLUS$6.5M
344 loan awards
Grad PLUS$31.1M
1,275 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 2,297 borrowers who entered repayment, 24 (1.0%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.0%
-1.3pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
2,297
Defaulted
24
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
5.7%
2017
4.4%
2018
3.5%
2019
1.0%
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 Mercer

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs128
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

2,373 total completions
01Health Professions
82734.9%
02Business
53722.6%
03Education
32413.7%
04Engineering
1657.0%
05Biological Sciences
1496.3%
06Legal Professions
1134.8%
07Psychology
984.1%
08Social Sciences
672.8%
09Communication
512.1%
10Computer Sciences
421.8%

Enrollment trends & demographics

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

Fall total
9,196
12-mo unduplicated
10,123
Undergraduate
5,218
Graduate
4,905

Gender split

Men
33%3,353
Women
67%6,770

Race / ethnicity composition

White
42.8%
Black
31.9%
Hispanic
8.3%
Asian
8.3%
Two or more
4.2%
Unknown
2.2%
Non-resident
2.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

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

Athletes
469
297 M · 172 W
Women athletes
36.7%
Athletic aid
$10.5M
Total student aid
Budget
$28.9M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$6.6M
$4.0M
Recruiting expense
$343K
$230K
Head-coach salaries
$151K
$88K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 12

Football
116 M ·
$6.8M
Lacrosse
58 M · 41 W
$2.1M
Soccer
29 M · 23 W
$2.0M
Baseball
47 M ·
$1.7M
Basketball
15 M · 13 W
$4.4M
Cross Country
14 M · 11 W
$587K

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
2.70
24 offenses · 8,889 students

3-year trend

3.552 yrs ago3.891 yr ago2.70Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
91
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
62
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
4
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
3

Criminal offenses by type

Rape
7
Motor vehicle theft
7
Fondling
6
Burglary
2
Robbery
1
Aggravated assault
1

By location

24total
  • On campus23
  • Non-campus1

Includes 12 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

3
Domestic violence
1
Dating violence
16
Stalking
20 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

  • Race1

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons02
Drugs019
Liquor037

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

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)
493

Mercer vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Mercer 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
SubjectMercer University
70%9,196$22,350R2 Research
Clark Atlanta University
49%64.2%4,252$35,115R2 Research
Wake Forest University
89%21.7%9,322$28,746R2 Research
Florida Institute of Technology
62%57.7%8,992$35,300R2 Research
Nova Southeastern University
63%73.2%20,910$31,303R2 Research
University of San Diego
84%52.4%9,714$31,265R2 Research
Peer group median67%57.7%9,259$31,284

Frequently asked questions about Mercer University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Mercer.

What is the graduation rate at Mercer University?

Mercer University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 70% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Mercer University?

Mercer University reports a total enrollment of 9,196 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Mercer University?

The average net price at Mercer University is $22,350 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Mercer University?

Mercer University's yield rate is 12.7%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Mercer University located?

Mercer University is located in Macon, Georgia 31207.

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