Mississippi State University

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a rural site not far from an urban area.

Overview

Mississippi State University is a comprehensive, doctoral degree-granting, land-grant university in Starkville, a town located in the eastern part of northcentral Mississippi.

Also known as MSU, the school was founded by the Mississippi Legislature in 1878 as The Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi.

In 1932, the Legislature renamed the school Mississippi State College. It achieved its present name in 1958.

Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, MSU is designated a Doctoral/Extensive institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The university offers an array of degrees and programs in diverse areas of study. MSU is organized into the following schools and colleges:

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Architecture Art and Design
• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Business and Industry
• College of Education
• College of Forest Resources
• College of Veterinary Medicine
• Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering
• James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
• Richard Adkerson School of Accountancy
• Shackouls Honors College

MSU is home to several student clubs and organizations. These include the Residence Hall Association, Campus Activities Board, and Engineering Student Council, to name a few. The athletic teams are known as the Bulldogs.

The university also has an active Greek life, with more than 15 fraternities and over 10 sororities.

Cultural life is enriched by the MSU-Starkville Civic Symphony and Chorus, the Starkville Community Theater, and the university's own Lyceum series, bringing professional musical, dramatic and artistic groups and performers to the campus.

Among the notable alumni of MSU are Bailey Howell, Hall of Fame NBA basketball player with the Boston Celtics; best-selling novelist John Grisham; Ben Jenkins, founder and artistic director of the Dallas-based design firm, One Fast Buffalo; Amy Truck, Mississippi Lt. Governor; and Titus Brown, Cleveland Browns NFL player.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in conservation and resource management, engineering, real estate and construction management, architecture and planning, education and teaching, and science.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Large number of students.
• Affordable tuition & fees.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High male/female ratio.

School characteristics:

• The school is public.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Mississippi State:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 17,824 in 2009-2010 (16,391 full-time equivalent).

About 51% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 49% of the class.

Undergrads are 76% of enrolled students, graduate students are 22%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 1%.

Students under 25 years old represent 73% of the student body. About 6% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 100% are full-time and 0% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Mississippi State provides on-campus housing for 3,923 of its 16,391 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Southeastern Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 193 male students received the aid (men were 64% of those receiving aid) and 110 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 36% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

Mississippi State offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Other Than Research or Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include continuing professional education and medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT (78 awarded)

• Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
• Agricultural Business and Management
• Agricultural Economics
• Agriculture
• Food Science

ANIMAL SCIENCE AND CARE (67 awarded)

• Animal Sciences
• Poultry Science

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (94 awarded)

• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
• Interior Architecture
• Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (39 awarded)

• Visual and Performing Arts

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (698 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business/Commerce
• Business/Managerial Economics
• Finance
• Insurance
• Management Information Systems
• Marketing/Marketing Management
• Operations Management and Supervision
• Taxation

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (65 awarded)

• Computer Engineering
• Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (66 awarded)

• Forest Technology/Technician
• Forestry
• Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management
• Wood Science and Wood Products/Pulp and Paper Technology

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (827 awarded)

• Agricultural Teacher Education
• Business Teacher Education
• College Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Community College Education
• Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Education
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• Elementary and Middle School Administration/Principalship
• Music Teacher Education
• Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Special Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education/Profess Development, Subject Areas
• Technical Teacher Education
• Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher Education

ENGINEERING (386 awarded)

• Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
• Biomedical/Medical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (49 awarded)

• Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians
• Industrial Technology/Technician

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (151 awarded)

• Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
• Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies
• Public Administration
• Social Work

FINE ARTS (0 awarded)

• Fine Arts and Art Studies

LANDSCAPING AND HORTICULTURE (37 awarded)

• Agronomy and Crop Science
• Horticultural Science
• Landscaping and Groundskeeping
• Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management

LIBERAL ARTS (358 awarded)

• Anthropology
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• Foreign Languages and Literatures
• History
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Sociology

MATHEMATICS (33 awarded)

• Applied Mathematics
• Mathematics
• Statistics
• Systems Science and Theory

MEDIA (112 awarded)

• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (8 awarded)

• Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology/Technologist

MEDICINE (75 awarded)

• Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
• Veterinary Sciences/Veterinary Clinical Sci, Gen (Cert,MS,PhD)

MUSIC (5 awarded)

• Music

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (70 awarded)

• Construction Management
• Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (6 awarded)

• Philosophy

SCIENCE (361 awarded)

• Biochemistry
• Biological and Physical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Geology/Earth Science
• Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
• Molecular Biology
• Physics
• Physiology, Pathology, and Related Sciences
• Toxicology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (143 awarded)

• Educational Psychology
• Psychology