The Most Selective Colleges in Mississippi
Every eligible Mississippi four-year that reports an admission rate, ranked hardest to get into first and easiest last — not a prestige Top 25. Selectivity here is the published rate, not a magazine composite.
Ranked by acceptance rate · 14 of 17 Mississippi institutions in this universe qualify for this ranking · Compiled 2026-09-01
- 1Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn State, MS · Public24.7%Compare nearby
- 2Mississippi CollegeClinton, MS · Private48.9%Compare nearby
- 3Millsaps CollegeJackson, MS · Private49.0%Compare nearby
- 4Mississippi Valley State UniversityItta Bena, MS · Public51.2%Compare nearby
- 5Tougaloo CollegeTougaloo, MS · Private53.2%Compare nearby
- 6Belhaven UniversityJackson, MS · Private53.3%Compare nearby
- 7William Carey UniversityHattiesburg, MS · Private58.0%Compare nearby
- 8Mississippi State UniversityMississippi State, MS · Public76.3%Compare nearby
- 9Jackson State UniversityJackson, MS · Public91.0%Compare nearby
- 10University of MississippiUniversity, MS · Public97.8%Compare nearby
- 11University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg, MS · Public99.4%Compare nearby
- 12Delta State UniversityCleveland, MS · Public99.7%Compare nearby
- 13Mississippi University for WomenColumbus, MS · Public100.0%Compare nearby
- 14Blue Mountain Christian UniversityBlue Mountain, MS · Private100.0%Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Acceptance rate — sorted lowest to highest
- Source variable
ADM_RATE- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release)
- Mississippi institutions in this universe (17 schools).
- Mississippi four-year main campuses only. Rank order is published admission rate; on an exact tie, higher SAT average ranks above, and missing SAT does not drop a school. SAT is not shown because it is not the ranked measure. Schools without a published ADM_RATE are omitted rather than estimated.
- Institutions enrolling fewer than 500 undergraduates are excluded — the same size floor as the national selectivity list — even when they report an admission rate. That cut is not a median-stability adjustment.
- 14 of 17 Mississippi institutions in this universe qualify for this ranking (report the measure and pass any enrollment floor); the rest are omitted rather than estimated.
A single measure is a narrow way to judge a college. Read this alongside the others, and see the methodology for what these figures do and do not capture.
Keep exploring
- Re-rank with your weightsRe-score with your weights, pre-filtered to MS
- Showdown: Alcorn State University vs Mississippi CollegeHigher-or-lower on Scorecard metrics — round 1 is these two
- Live leaderboardReshuffle Top 10–50 on one Scorecard measure
- Explore games & mapsShowdown, Name That College, sports, and more lists
- Sports at Alcorn State UniversityEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
Keep going
The Most Selective Colleges in America
Lowest share of applicants admitted. Selectivity measures demand and class size, not teaching quality.
Colleges with the Highest SAT Averages
Average SAT score of enrolled students. Reported by fewer than half of institutions as test-optional admissions has spread.
Colleges That Admit Nearly Everyone
Open and near-open admission four-year institutions, ranked by the share of applicants accepted.