Admissions & selectivity
Mercer University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Mercer University?
Mercer University’s reported acceptance rate is 68.9%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 68.9%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Mercer University admitted 68.9% of applicants to its reported entering class. That outcome sits below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size), placing its reported rate modestly below its peer reference point.
The figure summarizes the reported applicant pool rather than forecasting a decision for a particular applicant.
What SAT and ACT scores do Mercer University students report?
Mercer University provides a useful score reference for applicants, but these figures describe enrolled score submitters rather than admission cutoffs. Applicants should place their SAT score beside the university's 1,160 to 1,350 range; it marks the middle half of submitted SAT scores, from the twenty-fifth to seventy-fifth percentile.
They should separately compare an ACT score with the 25 to 31 range, which describes the same middle portion among enrolled ACT submitters. SAT and ACT results are reported separately, so either range gives context for the students who submitted that test rather than every enrolled student.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Mercer University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 1160
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1350
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.
- 25th percentile
- 25
- 75th percentile
- 31
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at Mercer University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 35.4%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 37.3%
- First-year retention
- 82.2%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Mercer University enrolls undergraduates through both direct and transfer routes, with federal grant aid part of the picture. Of 4,500 undergraduates, 35.4% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 37.3% entered as transfers or part-time students.
That pattern means the undergraduate population is not defined solely by a traditional first-year entry path: some arrive with previous college study, while others receive federal grant aid.
At Mercer University, retention sits below the peer median while six-year completion sits above it, giving enrolled students a mixed persistence picture. The first-year retention rate for full-time bachelor’s-seeking entrants is 82.2%, below the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of 83.4%.
For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 69.6%, above the comparable peer median of 68.8%. Pell recipients in that cohort have a six-year completion rate of 54.9%, below the overall rate by 14.7 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect cohort-level measures rather than an individual timetable: completion exceeds the peer median, though Pell completion remains lower than the overall rate.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.