Mississippi University
for Women
Public College in Columbus, MS. Six-year graduation rate 47%. Median 10-year earnings $46,128.
Students who entered Mississippi University for Women land at a median of $46,128 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 47%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $15,000, a light load against those earnings. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.7% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 90% of applicants are accepted. Only 557 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. Yield sits at 35% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | 4 (2%) |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 17–24 | 168 (98%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Mississippi University for Women →Academics
Completion is middling: 47% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 67% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,593 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $12,487 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $10,676 at $0–30k versus $19,285 at $110k+. Most students get help: 89% receive grants worth $8,149 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 51% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 157 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $10,676 |
| $30–48k | $10,434 |
| $48–75k | $13,037 |
| $75–110k | $17,060 |
| $110k+ | $19,285 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 812 of these 1,593 students, totalling $6,417,648 — an average of $7,904 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lowndes County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)