University of
Southern Mississippi
Public Research University in Hattiesburg, MS. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $44,140.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $44,140 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 49%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,500, neither a bargain nor a burden. It also moves people — 2.1% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 99% of applicants are accepted. 7,048 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. About 25% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 20–29 | 1,721 (99%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Southern Mississippi →Academics
Completion is middling: 49% finish inside six years. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Retention drops to 37% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. A 18:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,899 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,095 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $19,867 at $0–30k, $26,542 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 83% of students at an average of $10,140. Federal borrowing reaches 48% 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 · 1,695 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 | $19,867 |
| $30–48k | $20,432 |
| $48–75k | $22,756 |
| $75–110k | $25,812 |
| $110k+ | $26,542 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,780 of these 9,899 students, totalling $31,904,884 — an average of $6,675 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Forrest 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)