Mississippi College

Provine Chapel

On January 24, 1826, the college received its first charter, signed by Mississippi Gov. David Holmes. In 1827 the name was changed from Hampstead Academy to Mississippi Academy at the request of the Board of Trustees.[7] On December 18, 1830, having become a college, the name was changed to Mississippi College. It offered degrees in arts, sciences and languages.[8]

As a private institution in 1831, Mississippi College became the first coeducational college in the United States to award a degree to a female student. That year it granted degrees to two women, Alice Robinson and Catherine Hall.[9]

In the beginning Mississippi College was not church-related. For a number of years, it was affiliated with the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Since 1850, Mississippi College has been affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the Board of Trustees oversees the institution.[8]

Classes were not held during the Civil War, and the buildings deteriorated. Many students joined with faculty, a school trustee and townspeople to form the Mississippi College Rifles during the war years or signed up with other units.[8]

In the half-century after the war the college enrollment and campus slowly recovered, but its neglected buildings were not significantly damaged by the war. College President Walter Hillman helped refurbish the buildings by securing Northern financing prior to being offered the college presidency.[10] The endowment fund was renewed and the physical structures were renovated.[8]

From 1911 through 1932 the college prospered, seeing the completion of the Provine Science Building as well as Lowrey Hall, Alumni Hall and Farr-Hall Hospital, among others. The college endowment grew to $500,000 and in 1922, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools approved accreditation for the college. Enrollment reached 400 students.[8]

In 1942, Mississippi College acquired Hillman College. A new Nelson Hall administration building was erected in 1948, and new residence halls were built.[8]

Nelson Hall

In 1943, MC was among 131 colleges and universities nationwide taking part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy Commission. During the V-12 period, the Navy had exclusive use of Chrestman, Alumni Hall and the cafeteria. The last surge of construction during this era was a building for a growing fine arts program and a library. The war years saw enrollment in the 550-600 range. With veterans returning from World War II, enrollment increased. There were 1,000 students by 1950 and there were 1,581 students by Fall 1956.[8]

From 1957 through 1968 the college built the B.C. Rogers Student Center, Hederman Science Building, Self Hall and a pair of residence halls. Provine Chapel was restored. The School of Nursing began in 1969. With the coming of the School of Law in 1975, when MC purchased the former Jackson School of Law, the college took another step toward a university structure. In 1975, the division of business became the School of Business. In 1977 the division of education became the School of Education. In 1982, twelve remaining departments were grouped into the College of Arts and Sciences.[8]

In May 1992 MC absorbed Clarke College after the smaller school was forced to close due to declining enrollments. Throughout the 1990s the college renovated and expanded: work was carried out on the library, electronic media center, Cockroft Hall (for the School of Nursing), A.E. Wood Coliseum, the Law School building in downtown Jackson, the New Men's Residence Hall, the New Women's Residence Hall, Jennings Hall and Latimer House (a Victorian house later used for alumni receptions).[8]

From 2002 to 2015 the college's enrollment grew from 3,227 to 5,152, an increase of 60%. The number includes a record of 618 freshmen.

The number of international students rose from nine to a record 505 students from more than two dozen nations in Fall 2015.

The college added a physician assistant program in 2011, becoming the first institution in Mississippi to offer such a degree. MC now offers doctorates in educational leadership and professional counseling.[8]

MC emphasizes public service. In 2011–2012 students, faculty and staff performed more than 45,000 hours of community service at 153 different agencies, while the campus hosted Centrifuge and Super Summer camps.[8]

Since its beginning, Mississippi College has had 23 presidents/principals, including three interim presidents.[11] The first three presidents were known as Principals, before changing the official title to President.

The School of Business is AACSB accredited. This is the premier business accreditation in the world with only about 25% of business schools in the US holding this accreditation. The School of Business is located in Self Hall-a recently renovated, state-of-the-art facility. The school offers 6 undergraduate business majors: Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Marketing, MIS and Entrepreneurship. The school also offers the MBA in 4 concentrations: General, Accounting, Finance and MIS. The MBA program can be earned in-class, online or a combination of both. With an enrollment of 850 students, business is the single largest major on campus.

The School of Education includes the Department of Kinesiology, the Department of Psychology and Counseling, the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership, and the Dyslexia Center. The School of Christian Studies and the Arts includes the Department of Art, the Department of Christian Studies and Philosophy, the Department of Communication and the Department of Music.[16]

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences spans the Department of English, the Department of Modern Languages, the Department of History and Political Science, and the Department of Sociology and Social Work; The School of Science and Mathematics includes the Department of Biological Science, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Department of Computer Science and Physics, the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. The School of Nursing is based at Cockcroft Hall on the Clinton campus. The MC School of Law serves more than 400 students on East Griffith Street in downtown Jackson. Overall, Mississippi College consists of more than 80 academic programs.[16]

The Physician Assistant Program enrolls 94 students. The program received continuing national accreditation through March 2021. The doctorate in professional counseling, the first of its type in the United States, enrolls 120 students.

In addition to electrical engineering that began for about 25 undergraduates in August 2015, MC's newest array of academic programs includes: graduate degrees in health informatics and graphic design as well as bachelor's degrees in worship leadership and early childhood education.

The MC student/faculty ratio is 14:1.[12] The average ACT score for incoming freshmen is 24.

Launched in May 2011, the Department of Physician Assistant Studies serves 90 graduate students.[17] One-of-a-kind in Mississippi, the MC program works with the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, federal clinics and other medical facilities.[17] MC's newest doctorates include educational leadership and professional counseling. MC's School of Law in Jackson serves students.[18] The university's master's in medical sciences program serves more than 200 graduate students.

Since June 1984, the Mississippi College Administration of Justice Program has had over 250 Bachelor of Science graduates as well as 70 graduates in the Master of Social Science Program.[19] The program overall competes with Mississippi's public universities such as the University of Mississippi's Criminal Justice program, the University of Southern Mississippi's Forensics program, and Mississippi State's Criminology program.