University of Southern Mississippi

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of Southern Mississippi

University of Southern Mississippi operates as a public institution located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 10,075 students of which 11,533 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. University of Southern Mississippi 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 99.1%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,190 and an ACT midpoint of 23. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,708, with published in-state tuition of $9,998 and a Pell grant recipient share of 46.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 49.8%, and the first-year retention rate is 72.1%. Graduates earn a median of $44,140 ten years after enrolling, compared with $37,710 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 669900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 59.9% 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.