Messiah University

Private · Moderately Selective · PA

Photo: Swampyank (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationPA · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads2,259

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate70.5%

6-yr grad rate75%

Drop-out rate11.4%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$42k

Out-of-state tuition$42k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity24.9%

Gender diversity57.5%

International2.3%

IdentityInterdenominational

Overview

Messiah University is a private Christian university near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with roots in the Anabaptist and Brethren in Christ tradition, an emphasis that shows up as a campus ethos of service, peacebuilding, and reconciliation rather than a narrower doctrinal identity. It draws students looking for rigorous academics inside an intentionally faith-integrated environment.

Academics

Engineering, nursing, and education are the strongest programs, each with a solid regional reputation. A long-running collaborative engineering project developing assistive technology for people with disabilities is one of the more distinctive applied-learning traditions on campus, reflecting the service ethos in a concrete, hands-on way rather than as a separate mission statement.

Campus & student life

Campus life blends conventional residential traditions with visible faith practice; chapel, service trips, and social-justice-oriented programming are common threads across majors, not confined to religion students.

Getting in

Messiah's process is holistic, and while it doesn't require a specific denominational background, it does look for applicants comfortable with an actively faith-shaped campus culture, with essays and recommendations getting real attention alongside academic record.

Worth knowing

The disability-focused engineering collaboration is a genuine point of distinction: applied, ongoing, and tied directly to the university's service mission rather than a one-off program.

messiah.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate79%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1110–1350 · ACT 26–31

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying