Mercyhurst University

Private · Moderately Selective · PA

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationPA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads2,191

Student:faculty14:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate57.6%

6-yr grad rate60.2%

Drop-out rate20.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$46k

Out-of-state tuition$46k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity26.6%

Gender diversity57.3%

International6%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Mercyhurst University is a private Catholic university on a hilltop in Erie, Pennsylvania, on a gated, green campus best known nationally for a program most colleges don't offer at all: intelligence studies, which trains analysts for government agencies and corporate security work.

Academics

Beyond intelligence studies, Mercyhurst has built genuine niches in archaeology and forensic anthropology, hospitality management, and dance, an unusually specific and varied set of specialty programs for a university of its size, each with its own dedicated faculty and facilities rather than being a minor concentration.

Campus & student life

The hilltop, gated campus gives Mercyhurst a contained, traditional feel within the city of Erie, and its niche academic programs tend to create small, close subcultures within the student body around each specialty.

Getting in

Admission is holistic, and applicants to the intelligence studies program in particular are often drawn specifically by that reputation rather than by the university generally, making it something of a magnet program within the broader institution.

After graduation

Intelligence studies graduates have a distinctive and well-documented pipeline into federal agencies and corporate security and intelligence roles, a career outcome unusual for a university of Mercyhurst's size and one of its clearest points of national distinction.

Worth knowing

The intelligence studies program is genuinely one-of-a-kind at this level of specificity; it's a primary reason many students choose Mercyhurst specifically over comparable Catholic universities.

mercyhurst.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate81%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying