“Private Catholic university with campuses in Erie, Pennsylvania and Ruskin, Florida.”
Gannon University is a private, Catholic, comprehensive co-educational university in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, founded under the 1925 charter of Villa Maria College by then-Archbishop John Mark Gannon and established on its own as Cathedral College in 1933. Renamed Gannon College in 1944, it became co-educational in 1964, added a graduate school the same year, and achieved university status in 1979. The main campus sits between Peach and Myrtle Streets and 3rd and 10th Streets in downtown Erie on the shores of Lake Erie, with a doctoral branch campus in Ruskin, Florida (opened 2015) focused on health-care graduate programs. Gannon today enrolls about 4,665 students, draws from more than 70 countries, and organises its work around a Catholic, Mercy-inspired mission of intellectual, moral, and professional formation. Academically, Gannon is a health-professions and professional-studies university first and foremost. It is widely recognised for its nursing, physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, radiological science, and pre-medicine pathways — the latter supported through formal 4+4 early-acceptance partnerships with LECOM for medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry, as well as with Case Western for dentistry and Duquesne for law. The Dahlkemper School of Business is AACSB-accredited, and Gannon's STEM-designated MBA in Business Analytics and MS in Computer and Information Science have made it a notable choice for international graduate students seeking 24-month STEM-OPT eligibility — the MBA in Business Analytics in particular is nearly 90% international by enrolment. Undergraduate engineering and computer science programs round out the STEM-OPT footprint. Outside the professional schools, Gannon maintains strong programs in theology, criminal justice, psychology, and the fine arts, all shaped by its Catholic intellectual tradition. For international students, Gannon combines Catholic community life, a relatively small student body, and strong STEM-designated graduate programs with one of the more affordable private-university tuition points in the Northeast — made more accessible by Gannon's large institutional scholarship pool ($52M in annual aid). The Office of Global Admissions and Outreach handles I-20 issuance, SEVIS maintenance, and OPT/CPT advising, while the downtown Erie campus offers a walkable small-city environment on Lake Erie within six hours of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
International Student Enrollment (F-1)
DHS SEVIS by the Numbers (2024)
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceRolling Admission
Gannon admits on a rolling basis; students notified within 3–4 weeks of complete application. Apply early in senior year for best consideration.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$40,656
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Gannon's largest college; houses nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, pre-medicine (with LECOM 4+4), radiological sciences, and basic-science departments.
AACSB-accredited business school with undergraduate BBA tracks and graduate MBA concentrations, including the STEM-designated MBA in Business Analytics.
Houses engineering and computer-information-science programs, several of which are STEM-OPT-designated, with undergraduate and graduate offerings.
Encompasses Catholic theology and philosophy, education (undergraduate and graduate), psychology, criminal justice, and English; serves as the liberal-arts core of the university.
4 years
Gannon's traditional undergraduate BSN is a flagship program with direct clinical partnerships across Erie-region hospitals (UPMC Hamot, AHN Saint Vincent) and strong NCLEX pass rates; graduates move into acute-care, ICU, and specialty nursing roles throughout the Pennsylvania–Ohio–New York tri-state.
2 years
A STEM-designated MBA track tailored to international graduate students; makes graduates eligible for the 24-month STEM-OPT extension (up to 36 months of total OPT work authorization). Approximately 90% of enrolled students in this program are international.
8 years
Formal articulation agreement with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) that reserves a seat in LECOM's DO, Pharm.D., or dental programs for qualified Gannon undergraduates who meet defined GPA and MCAT/PCAT/DAT thresholds.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $40,656
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
