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Mississippi provides impressive higher education institutions. Whether seeking public, private, or
community college education, students have a broad range of choices in the Magnolia State.
Several public universities serve students within Mississippi. The University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), established in 1844, enrolls
roughly 17,300 students in its three campuses, and offers over 20 research centers. Mississippi State University in Starkville is a comprehensive, doctoral-degree-granting
university following the American Land-Grant tradition and enrolling over 16,000 students. The
University of Southern Mississippi ("Southern
Miss") in Hattiesburg is a comprehensive doctoral and research extensive university enrolling
approximately 16,000 students at its main campus as well as at five teaching and research sites along
the Gulf Coast. Alcorn State University, founded
in 1871, was the nation’s first state-supported higher education institution for African Americans;
today Alcorn enrolls approximately 3,100 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.
Delta State University in
Cleveland, while remaining a public institution, also receives support from private and federal
sources; Delta State provides a comprehensive undergraduate curriculum with 12 baccalaureate degrees
in 42 majors, as well as eight master’s degree programs. Jackson State University in Jackson is a historically African-American,
co-educational, research intensive institution designated as the urban university of Mississippi. The
Mississippi University for Women in Columbus,
founded in 1884 as the first public college for women, has been coeducational for over 20 years and
enrolls approximately 2,400 students. Mississippi
Valley State University in Itta Bena is designated a Carnegie Master’s I institution and located
in the Delta region.
Mississippi also boasts fine private colleges throughout the state. Among these are
Belhaven College in Jackson, a Christian
liberal arts college; Millsaps College in
Jackson provides education with a United Methodist Church base to over 1,100 students; Mississippi College in Clinton is the oldest college in Mississippi and the second
oldest Baptist college in the world, and offers over 80 areas of study in its comprehensive liberal
arts curriculum; Rust College in Holly
Springs, a historically African America, coeducational, senior liberal arts college related to the
United Methodist Church; Tougaloo College is a
private, historically African American, liberal arts institution founded by the American Missionary
Association I 1869, and open to all races and ethnicities; and William Carey University in Hattiesburg, a historically women’s college now
providing coeducational opportunities.
Notable community colleges in the Magnolia State include Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale; Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson; East Central Community College in Decatur; Hinds Community College; Holmes
Community College in Goodman; Itawamba Community
College in Fulton and Tupelo; Meridian
Community College in Meridian; Mississippi Gulf Coast
Community College, with several campuses; Northeast
Mississippi Community College; Northwest
Mississippi Community College; Pearl River Community
College, based in Poplarville; and Southwest
Mississippi Community College in Summit.
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