University of Southern Mississippi Overview
University of Southern Mississippi is a public institution situated in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.
What Is University of Southern Mississippi Known For?
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Southern Miss.
- In 2017-2018, 99% of the faculty were full-time.
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University of Southern Mississippi Rankings
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Southern Miss.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Southern Miss has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Other Computer & Information Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Other Computer & Information Sciences & Support Services, Other Doctor’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#3 | Best Data Processing Schools | College Factual |
#3 | Best Data Processing Technology Schools | College Factual |
#44 | Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
#50 | Best Computer & Information Sciences Colleges for Veterans | College Factual |
Where Is University of Southern Mississippi?

Contact details for Southern Miss are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 118 College Drive # 0001, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001 |
Phone: | 601-266-1000 |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/usm.edu |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/southernmiss |
How Do I Get Into Southern Miss?
You can apply to Southern Miss online at: https://apps.usm.edu/admissions/ugapp/
Admission Requirements for Southern Miss
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Southern Miss?
Approximately 32% of accepted students are men and 68% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 95%, and the acceptance rate for women is 97%.
Average Test Scores
About 0% of students accepted to Southern Miss submitted their SAT scores.Southern Miss received ACT scores from 100% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 19 and 28. Math scores were between 17 and 25. Composite scores were between 19 and 26.
Can I Afford University of Southern Mississippi?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Southern Miss, approximately 61% of students took out student loans averaging $6,907 a year. That adds up to $27,628 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Southern Miss is 9.8%. This is about the same as the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of Southern Mississippi Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 3,155 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 9,644 full-time undergraduates at Southern Miss, 34% are male and 66% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of University of Southern Mississippi students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 127 |
Black or African American | 2,820 |
Hispanic or Latino | 351 |
White | 5,802 |
International Students | 152 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 392 |
Geographic Diversity
Mississippi students aren't the only ones who study at University of Southern Mississippi. At this time, 30 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 70 countries are represented at Southern Miss. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, Nepal, and China.
Online Learning at University of Southern Mississippi
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Southern Miss has changed over the last few years.

This school is the most popular in Mississippi for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Southern Miss
The following table shows how Southern Miss is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Architectural Engineering Technology | #1 | #1 |
Other Business, Management & Marketing | #1 | #15 |
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services | #4 | #7 |
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science | #4 | #1 |
Food, Nutrition & Related Services | #4 | #1 |
Political Science & Government | #7 | #1 |
Philosophy | #10 | #1 |
Human Development & Family Studies | #10 | #19 |
Hospitality Management | #16 | #19 |
Industrial Production Technology | #22 | #16 |
Student Counseling | #25 | #10 |
Human Resource Management | #28 | #16 |
Special Education | #28 | #28 |
Library Science | #31 | #10 |
Library & Information Science | #31 | #10 |
Philosophy & Religious Studies | #34 | #16 |
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | #34 | #31 |
Social Sciences | #37 | #37 |
Public Health | #40 | #1 |
Health & Physical Education | #46 | #43 |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | #46 | #46 |
Engineering Technologies | #46 | #37 |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #58 | #79 |
Curriculum & Instruction | #67 | #56 |
Online Growth Rankings of Southern Miss
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at University of Southern Mississippi was 49.6%. This is the #674 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Southern Miss regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Southern Miss majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 33% |
Human Development & Family Studies | 45% |
Library & Information Science | 6% |
Library Science | 6% |
Special Education | 7% |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | 21% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Southern Miss ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Southern Miss.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Other Business, Management & Marketing | #10 | |
Library & Information Science | #19 | |
Library Science | #19 | |
General Education | #47 | |
Human Development & Family Studies | #49 | |
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | #60 | |
Human Resource Management | #78 | |
Special Education | #88 | |
Instructional Media Design | #92 | |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #100 | |
Educational Administration | #118 | |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #125 | |
Nursing | #232 | |
Education | #367 | |
Business Administration & Management | #432 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
University of Southern Mississippi Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Dudemanfellabra under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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