Mount Mercy University


Mount Mercy University is a Catholic liberal arts university in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1928.
Students take a core of liberal arts courses providing a comprehensive foundation for many specific areas of study including: English, fine arts, history, mathematics, multicultural studies, natural science, philosophy, religious studies, social science and speech/drama. The university offers more than 45 undergraduate programs of study and six graduate programs. A number of these programs are available for online learning.

Campus

Mount Mercy University's 40-acre campus is located in a tree-lined residential neighborhood in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Mount Mercy University was founded as a two-year college for women in 1928 by the Sisters of Mercy of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. These sisters, whose order was founded in 1831 by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, have been active in Cedar Rapids since 1875. The college was an outgrowth of their concerns about the education of women.
In 1957, Mount Mercy became a four-year institution and awarded its first bachelor's degree in 1959. The college received accreditation as a baccalaureate institution by the North Central Association in 1960. In 1968 the Sisters of Mercy transferred their legal authority and responsibility to a self-perpetuating independent board of which three members would always be Sisters of Mercy. Mount Mercy College became coeducational in 1969. While integrating a strong liberal arts component, the college has always emphasized professional development from its early involvement, as a junior college, on business courses and teacher education. The departments of nursing, education, and social work were accredited in the 1960s and 1970s as the four-year programs developed. Begun in 1997, the Adult Accelerated program, a joint Mount Mercy University/Kirkwood Community College accelerated degree completion program for working adults meets an important community workforce development need.
On August 23, 2010, the institution was re-designated as a university.

Presidents

Mount Mercy is sponsored by the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, through the Conference for Mercy Higher Education.
The Campus Ministry team supports students’ faith development and spiritual life through daily mass, retreats, service-learning opportunities, and vocation discernment activities.
The typical Mass schedule during the fall and spring semesters is 7:30 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday, and 11:30 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This is subject to change.

Academics

Mount Mercy offers more than 85 areas of study, organized into eight academic departments - serving traditional residential, transfer, and working adult students.

Undergraduate Programs

Mount Mercy teams are known as the Mustangs. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I, competing in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, track & field, and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball. Varsity and Junior Varsity programs are available in several sports.
activities include basketball, volleyball, golf, flag football, softball and cross country.
38% of traditional undergrads are student-athletes.

Athletic Achievements

Mount Mercy's 18 athletic teams have won 50 conference team titles and qualified for 40+ national events.
Over 120 students have been named NAIA Scholar-Athletes in the past three years, including a record 67 in the 2018–19 academic year.
In 2018–19: Two NAIA national team qualifiers, 14 individual qualifiers, eight NAIA all-Americans, 67 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 116 all-conference performers.