Messiah University vs Cedarville University

Messiah University and Cedarville University, both esteemed Christian institutions, offer unique educational experiences. Messiah, located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, boasts a higher acceptance rate (78%) compared to Cedarville's 68%. Messiah's student body is more diverse, with 44% male and 56% female students, while Cedarville's is more evenly split at 48% male and 52% female. Cedarville's student body is also slightly larger, with 4,314 undergraduates compared to Messiah's 3,300. Both universities offer a range of popular majors, including nursing, business, and education, but Cedarville has a stronger focus on engineering and computer science. With graduation rates of 75% and 68% respectively, both universities ensure their students are well-prepared for their careers. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more distinctions and determine which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and

	Cedarville University	Messiah University
Overview
Location	Cedarville, Ohio	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	86.0%	85.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation	Baptist	Interdenominational

Admission
Acceptance rate	62.2%	77.4%
Application fees	$30	$50
SAT range	1120 - 1350	1100 - 1340
ACT range	22 - 29	23 - 31
Students submitting SAT score	33.0%	57.0%
Students submitting ACT score	55.0%	11.0%
Total number of applicants	5,223	2,458
Total number of admissions given out	3,251	1,902
Admitted students who chose to enroll	972	551
Yield rate	29.9%	29.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$45,384	$54,340
Average net price	$25,380	$23,895
Tuition	$33,174	$37,430
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,602 Meal plan: $3,518	Room/dormitory: $5,970 Meal plan: $5,250
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $18,636	100.0% Average amount $26,620
Students receiving federal student loan	48.0% Average amount $4,995	65.0% Average amount $5,510
Students taking out private loans	10.0% Average amount $15,502	24.0% Average amount $11,228

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	4,191 Men 44.5% Women 55.5%	2,495 Men 39.0% Women 61.0%
Graduate students	452 Men 43.4% Women 56.6%	781 Men 28.6% Women 71.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	64.1%	34.6%
International students	1.8%	2.8%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,940	2,403
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Ohio Michigan Indiana Pennsylvania Illinois	Pennsylvania Maryland New Jersey New York Delaware

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Education Engineering Business Theology	Health Professions Education Business Visual & Performing Arts Engineering
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	12:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	73.3%	77.0%
Dropout rate	26.4%	4.8%
Transferred out	N/A	18.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $83,280 Year 2: $96,183 Year 3: $119,287 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $71,469 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $73,725 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,392 Year 2: $62,409 Year 3: $69,774 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,260 Year 2: $56,532 Year 3: $56,672 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,043 Year 2: $35,420 Year 3: $41,677 Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,682 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $40,207 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,131 Year 2: $36,132 Year 3: $37,025 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,784 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $36,745 Radio, Television, and Digital Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,326 Year 2: $28,019 Year 3: $36,339 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,998 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: N/A	Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,515 Year 2: $60,623 Year 3: $64,027 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,062 Year 2: $53,608 Year 3: $62,810 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,117 Year 2: $62,546 Year 3: $62,631 Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,416 Year 2: $55,693 Year 3: $56,809 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,254 Year 2: $49,214 Year 3: $53,924 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $32,970 Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: $47,853 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,875 Year 2: $37,054 Year 3: $47,113 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,733 Year 2: $40,621 Year 3: $45,156 Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $43,616 Year 2: $39,523 Year 3: $44,488 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,316 Year 2: $35,594 Year 3: $41,855

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Cedarville University

John Brown University