Mississippi State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University operates as a public institution located in Mississippi State, Mississippi (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 18,397 students of which 19,891 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Mississippi State University is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 77.6%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,219 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $17,595, with published in-state tuition of $10,202 and a Pell grant recipient share of 29.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,142, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 64.8%, and the first-year retention rate is 82.5%. Graduates earn a median of $51,513 ten years after enrolling, compared with $43,487 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 590000.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 67.0% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.