Enrollment Trends at Messiah

The student population at Messiah University is 3,373 (2,618 undergraduate and 755 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 71 (2.15%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Messiah is 77.62% which is decreased by 201 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 272 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 62 male students for every 100 female students, up from 60 in 2015.
721 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 76.72% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Trends by Subject

Home
Trends
Messiah University
Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 3,328 where 3,373 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 5 year-over-year increases and 4 decreases. It peaked at 3,375 students in 2019 and was lowest at 3,231 in 2023. Overall, enrollment rose from 3,302 to 3,373 students, a net gain of 71 (2.2%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Messiah University since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	3,302	2,819	1,106	1,713	483	134	349
2016-17	3,305 3	2,788 -31	1,092 -14	1,696 -17	517 34	133 -1	384 35
2017-18	3,331 26	2,759 -29	1,106 14	1,653 -43	572 55	140 7	432 48
2018-19	3,375 44	2,734 -25	1,065 -41	1,669 16	641 69	151 11	490 58
2019-20	3,374 -1	2,709 -25	1,062 -3	1,647 -22	665 24	168 17	497 7
2020-21	3,370 -4	2,614 -95	1,043 -19	1,571 -76	756 91	221 53	535 38
2021-22	3,276 -94	2,495 -119	974 -69	1,521 -50	781 25	223 2	558 23
2022-23	3,231 -45	2,495	978 4	1,517 -4	736 -45	220 -3	516 -42
2023-24	3,344 113	2,586 91	1,030 52	1,556 39	758 22	195 -25	563 47
2024-25	3,373 29	2,618 32	1,095 65	1,523 -33	755 -3	197 2	558 -5
Average	3,328	2,662	1,055	1,607	666	178	488

Messiah University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 2,662 where 2,618 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Messiah University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	2,819	2,681	1,055	1,626	138	51	87
2016-17	2,788	2,648	1,050	1,598	140	42	98
2017-18	2,759	2,637	1,061	1,576	122	45	77
2018-19	2,734	2,598	1,021	1,577	136	44	92
2019-20	2,709	2,545	1,009	1,536	164	53	111
2020-21	2,614	2,424	970	1,454	190	73	117
2021-22	2,495	2,304	898	1,406	191	76	115
2022-23	2,495	2,277	899	1,378	218	79	139
2023-24	2,586	2,254	911	1,343	332	119	213
2024-25	2,618	2,212	938	1,274	406	157	249
Average	2,662	2,662	981	1,477	2,662	74	130

Messiah University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 666 where 755 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Messiah University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	483	103	20	83	380	114	266
2016-17	517	113	16	97	404	117	287
2017-18	572	152	19	133	420	121	299
2018-19	641	189	24	165	452	127	325
2019-20	665	225	41	184	440	127	313
2020-21	756	290	72	218	466	149	317
2021-22	781	284	65	219	497	158	339
2022-23	736	269	60	209	467	160	307
2023-24	758	278	72	206	480	123	357
2024-25	755	274	63	211	481	134	347
Average	666	666	45	173	666	133	316

Messiah University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 75.21%. The percentage was 83.16% 10 years ago and Messiah still has a high percentage of white students. 3.68% of enrolled students is Asian and 4.71% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 8.51% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 83.16% to 75.21%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.94% to 3.68%. Black student enrollment increased from 3.30% to 4.71%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.97% to 8.51%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4219 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.3045 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Messiah University over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2015-16	3	64	109	131	0	2,746	96
2016-17	3	69	98	137	1	2,722	107
2017-18	1	78	94	159	2	2,729	97
2018-19	2	81	111	169	1	2,739	108
2019-20	3	89	118	183	0	2,731	107
2020-21	3	103	140	192	1	2,710	108
2021-22	3	109	149	206	0	2,578	123
2022-23	4	107	134	230	2	2,519	122
2023-24	2	128	153	270	4	2,550	118
2024-25	3	124	159	287	3	2,537	135
Average	3	95	127	196	1	2,656	112

Messiah University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

721 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 21% of total students. The number of online students has increased 76.72% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Messiah University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	3,302	408	39	2,855
2016-17	3,305	450	31	2,824
2017-18	3,331	491	44	2,796
2018-19	3,375	463	86	2,826
2019-20	3,374	445	72	2,857
2020-21	3,370	501	967	1,902
2021-22	3,276	584	233	2,459
2022-23	3,231	559	597	2,075
2023-24	3,344	660	570	2,114
2024-25	3,373	721	653	1,999
Average	3,328	528	329	2,471

Ratings & Review

Share your experiences and thoughts about Messiah University. It will be a great help to applicants and prospective students!

Be the first reviewer

Most Searched Pennsylvania Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington Public, 4-year | New Kensington
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley Public, 4-year | Center Valley
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Shenango Public, 4-year | Sharon
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre Public, 4-year | Dallas
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont Alto Public, 4-year | Mont Alto
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Public, 4-year | University Park
University of Pennsylvania Private, 4-year | Philadelphia
Carnegie Mellon University Private, 4-year | Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Public, 4-year | Pittsburgh
Villanova University Private, 4-year | Villanova

compare schools

Graduate

Thomas Jefferson University Private, 4-year | Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania Private, 4-year | Philadelphia
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Public, 4-year | University Park
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Public, 4-year | Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon University Private, 4-year | Pittsburgh
Wilkes University Private, 4-year | Wilkes-Barre
Bryn Mawr College Private, 4-year | Bryn Mawr
Temple University Public, 4-year | Philadelphia
Albright College Private, 4-year | Reading
Lehigh University Private, 4-year | Bethlehem

compare schools

Online Schools

Pennsylvania State University-World Campus Public, 4-year | University Park
Harrisburg Area Community College Public, 2-4 year | Harrisburg
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona Public, 4-year | Altoona
Carnegie Mellon University Private, 4-year | Pittsburgh
Lafayette College Private, 4-year | Easton
Westmoreland County Community College Public, 2-4 year | Youngwood
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design Private, 4-year | Lancaster
Eastern University Private, 4-year | Saint Davids
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Public, 4-year | Indiana
United Lutheran Seminary Private, 4-year | Gettysburg

compare schools

Trade Schools

Orleans Technical College Private, 2-4 year | Philadelphia
Empire Beauty School-North Hills Private, Less than 2-year | Pittsburgh
Venus Beauty Academy Private, Less than 2-year | Aston
Miller-Motte College-Berks Technical Institute Private, 2-4 year | Wyomissing
Butler Beauty Academy-Kittanning Beauty Academy Private, Less than 2-year | Kittanning
New Castle School of Trades Private, 2-4 year | New Castle
Barber and Beauty Academy of Pennsylvania Private, Less than 2-year | Harrisburg
South Hills Beauty Academy Private, Less than 2-year | Pittsburgh
Altoona Beauty School Inc Private, Less than 2-year | Altoona
Miller-Motte College-Berks Technical Institute-Lewisburg Private, 2-4 year | Lewisburg

compare schools