Enrollment Trends at Mount Mercy

The student population at Mount Mercy University is 1,417 (1,139 undergraduate and 278 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 460 (24.51%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Mount Mercy is 80.38% which is decreased by 404 over last 10 years. The graduate student population decreased by 56 and it has been decreasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 64 male students for every 100 female students, up from 41 in 2015.
225 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 200.00% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 1,693 where 1,417 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 1 year-over-year increase and 8 decreases. It peaked at 1,886 students in 2017 and was lowest at 1,417 in 2025. Overall, enrollment dropped from 1,877 to 1,417 students, a net loss of 460 (24.5%).

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,877	1,543	447	1,096	334	98	236
2016-17	1,886 9	1,580 37	482 35	1,098 2	306 -28	97 -1	209 -27
2017-18	1,848 -38	1,517 -63	491 9	1,026 -72	331 25	109 12	222 13
2018-19	1,835 -13	1,501 -16	470 -21	1,031 5	334 3	120 11	214 -8
2019-20	1,807 -28	1,442 -59	462 -8	980 -51	365 31	119 -1	246 32
2020-21	1,705 -102	1,381 -61	441 -21	940 -40	324 -41	95 -24	229 -17
2021-22	1,580 -125	1,290 -91	444 3	846 -94	290 -34	99 4	191 -38
2022-23	1,526 -54	1,271 -19	472 28	799 -47	255 -35	70 -29	185 -6
2023-24	1,451 -75	1,185 -86	447 -25	738 -61	266 11	83 13	183 -2
2024-25	1,417 -34	1,139 -46	466 19	673 -65	278 12	87 4	191 8
Average	1,693	1,385	462	923	308	98	211

Mount Mercy University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 1,385 where 1,139 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 Mount Mercy University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,543	957	290	667	586	157	429
2016-17	1,580	1,046	346	700	534	136	398
2017-18	1,517	1,083	372	711	434	119	315
2018-19	1,501	1,074	357	717	427	113	314
2019-20	1,442	1,070	356	714	372	106	266
2020-21	1,381	1,044	340	704	337	101	236
2021-22	1,290	1,013	356	657	277	88	189
2022-23	1,271	998	392	606	273	80	193
2023-24	1,185	980	378	602	205	69	136
2024-25	1,139	1,073	446	627	66	20	46
Average	1,385	1,385	363	671	1,385	99	252

Mount Mercy University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 308 where 278 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 Mount Mercy University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	334	147	35	112	187	63	124
2016-17	306	116	29	87	190	68	122
2017-18	331	125	28	97	206	81	125
2018-19	334	142	36	106	192	84	108
2019-20	365	108	23	85	257	96	161
2020-21	324	113	30	83	211	65	146
2021-22	290	116	27	89	174	72	102
2022-23	255	105	26	79	150	44	106
2023-24	266	118	23	95	148	60	88
2024-25	278	112	30	82	166	57	109
Average	308	308	29	92	308	69	119

Mount Mercy University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 53.49%. The percentage was 80.50% 10 years ago and Mount Mercy still has a high percentage of white students. 1.98% of enrolled students is Asian and 5.36% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 7.55% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 80.50% to 53.49%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.70% to 1.98%. Black student enrollment decreased from 6.77% to 5.36%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 1.44% to 7.55%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6871 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.3464 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Mount Mercy 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	20	32	127	27	1	1,511	35
2016-17	21	37	126	25	3	1,500	36
2017-18	24	40	124	19	7	1,464	35
2018-19	23	44	146	14	6	1,423	38
2019-20	14	31	155	11	8	1,377	35
2020-21	13	32	134	22	5	1,321	43
2021-22	5	33	119	21	1	1,203	73
2022-23	3	32	102	32	0	1,117	95
2023-24	1	28	46	35	0	944	220
2024-25	4	28	76	107	1	758	189
Average	13	34	116	31	3	1,262	80

Mount Mercy University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

225 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 16% of total students. The number of online students has increased 200.00% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Mount Mercy University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	1,877	75	142	1,660
2016-17	1,886	133	178	1,575
2017-18	1,848	187	188	1,473
2018-19	1,835	233	262	1,340
2019-20	1,807	275	248	1,284
2020-21	1,705	352	226	1,127
2021-22	1,580	306	186	1,088
2022-23	1,526	232	281	1,013
2023-24	1,451	199	288	964
2024-25	1,417	225	720	472
Average	1,693	222	272	1,200

Most Searched Iowa Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

Capri College-Davenport Private, Less than 2-year | Davenport
PCI Academy-Ames Private, Less than 2-year | Ames
Iowa School of Beauty-Sioux City Private, 2-4 year | Sioux City
Iowa State University Public, 4-year | Ames
La James International College-Davenport Private, Less than 2-year | Davenport
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary Private, 4-year | Ankeny
Grinnell College Private, 4-year | Grinnell
Des Moines Area Community College Public, 2-4 year | Ankeny
Drake University Private, 4-year | Des Moines
La James International College-Johnston Private, Less than 2-year | Johnston

compare schools

Graduate

Iowa State University Public, 4-year | Ames
University of Iowa Public, 4-year | Iowa City
Morningside University Private, 4-year | Sioux City
Iowa School of Beauty-Marshalltown Private, 2-4 year | Marshalltown
La James College of Hairstyling and Cosmetology Private, 2-4 year | Mason City
The Salon Professional Academy-Cedar Falls Private, Less than 2-year | Cedar Falls
Orion Technical College Private, 4-year | Davenport
Palmer College of Chiropractic Private, 4-year | Davenport
Little Priest Tribal College - Ho Chunk Centre Private, Less than 2-year | Sioux City
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary Private, 4-year | Ankeny

compare schools

Online Schools

Upper Iowa University Private, 4-year | Fayette
Saint Ambrose University Private, 4-year | Davenport
Iowa Western Community College Public, 2-4 year | Council Bluffs
UnityPoint Health-Des Moines School of Radiologic Technology Private, 2-4 year | Des Moines
Iowa School of Beauty-Marshalltown Private, 2-4 year | Marshalltown
La James College of Hairstyling and Cosmetology Private, 2-4 year | Mason City
The Salon Professional Academy-Cedar Falls Private, Less than 2-year | Cedar Falls
Orion Technical College Private, 4-year | Davenport
Palmer College of Chiropractic Private, 4-year | Davenport
Little Priest Tribal College - Ho Chunk Centre Private, Less than 2-year | Sioux City

compare schools

Trade Schools

Iowa Western Community College Public, 2-4 year | Council Bluffs
Iowa State University Public, 4-year | Ames
Northwest Iowa Community College Public, 2-4 year | Sheldon
Indian Hills Community College Public, 2-4 year | Ottumwa
Iowa School of Beauty-Marshalltown Private, 2-4 year | Marshalltown
La James College of Hairstyling and Cosmetology Private, 2-4 year | Mason City
The Salon Professional Academy-Cedar Falls Private, Less than 2-year | Cedar Falls
Orion Technical College Private, 4-year | Davenport
Palmer College of Chiropractic Private, 4-year | Davenport
Little Priest Tribal College - Ho Chunk Centre Private, Less than 2-year | Sioux City

compare schools

Enrollment Trends at Mount Mercy

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

Ratings & Review