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School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
McPherson College is a small college in central Kansas founded by the Church of the Brethren, a peace-church tradition that still informs the college's values around service and community. Its most distinctive feature nationally is a four-year automotive restoration degree, the only program of its kind in the country, which draws students and collectors from well beyond Kansas.
Academics
The automotive restoration program combines hands-on shop work with business and history coursework, preparing graduates for careers in classic-car restoration, museum conservation, and the collector-car industry; students work on real vehicles, sometimes for outside clients. Beyond automotive restoration, McPherson offers a range of liberal arts and pre-professional majors typical of a small church-affiliated college.
Campus & student life
The campus is small and rural, in the town of McPherson, with a close community feel reinforced by the college's Church of the Brethren roots and an emphasis on service and reconciliation.
Getting in
Students drawn to the automotive program often apply specifically for that reason, sometimes arriving with existing mechanical experience; the college's small size means decisions weigh fit and interest alongside academic record.
Worth knowing
The automotive restoration program is genuinely singular - no other four-year college in the country grants a bachelor's degree in it - and it draws a national, even international, applicant pool that looks different from the college's broader regional student base.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
mcpherson.edu ↗High school coursework
RequiredHigh school transcript or completion of the GED (no specific course pattern published) -- 3.0+ unweighted GPA is automatic (test-blind); 2.0+ GPA with an 18+ ACT is Acceptance; 2.0-3.0 GPA with below 18 ACT or no score goes to Internal Review
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