Awards and Recognition

We know we've got a good thing going, but don't just take our word for it.

Millsaps consistently ranks high in a number of independent reviews and publications. Our outstanding academic programs, along with our vibrant campus community and the lasting value of a Millsaps education, continue to set us apart, year after year. Below you will find some samples of what others are saying about the College.

 

Millsaps College is the best college in the state of Mississippi based on educational quality, student experiences and achievement of students, according to Forbes.com. It is the second time Millsaps received the state’s top recognition by Forbes.  The second-annual ranking of America’s Best Colleges 2009, compiled by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, ranks 600 undergraduate institutions based on educational quality, student experiences and achievement of students. Out of the 600 undergraduate institutions surveyed across the country, Millsaps ranked first in Mississippi and No. 101 overall in Forbes’ list of the best colleges in the country. The full list of 600 institutions is posted at Forbes.com.

Millsaps College is one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review’s 2010 edition of the popular guidebook, “The Best 371 Colleges.” In its two-page profile on Millsaps College (PDF), The Princeton Review praises the school for its “rigorous undergraduate education,” “highly student-oriented atmosphere” and “down-to-earth and friendly, administrators, faculty, and staff.” Millsaps College received special recognition as one of the Top 20 colleges for “Lots of Race/Class Interaction.” The category is chosen based on students’ answers to the survey questions: “Do different types of students (black/white, rich/poor) interact frequently and easily at your school?” The ranking lists in the 2010 edition of "The Best 371 Colleges" are entirely based on the Princeton Review’s survey of 122,000 students attending the colleges in the book. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from student assessments of their professors, administrators, financial aid and campus food.

Millsaps College is one of only 24 private colleges nationwide and the only college in Mississippi named a “Best Buy” in the 2010 edition of Fiske’s Top Financial Finds on the College Tuition Market. The revised and updated list features 44 private and public institutions as Best Buy Schools. The institutions were chosen based on the quality of academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance. To determine this illustrious list, Fiske researchers combined the cost data with academic and other life-style information about each college and university to determine what institutions offer remarkable educational opportunities at a relatively modest cost. At Millsaps, more than 90 percent of students receive some financial aid through an aggressive awards program for merit, leadership and service scholarships and institutional, federal and state need-based programs. Millsaps has constantly been recognized by the guidebook since Fiske’s inception in 1982.

Read the full press release and see all "Best Buy" schools

The Else School of Management at Millsaps College is consistently ranked as an outstanding business school by the Princeton Review’s “Best 296 Business Schools.” In fact, for the past two years the MBA program at Millsaps has ranked No. 3 for “Best Classroom Experience.” Other past recognition includes a No. 8 ranking for “Best Professors” in 2007. Rankings are based on 19,000 student surveys and on school-reported data. Millsaps College students surveyed in the book agreed that the Else School of Management provided solid preparation in teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills and presentation skills.

For the sixth consecutive year Millsaps College has been named one of 240 colleges and universities selected for inclusion in Colleges of Distinction, a guidebook that notes four key areas: engaged students both outside and inside the classroom, great teaching by expert professors, a vibrant community both on and off campus and successful, productive graduates. “Millsaps College is a close-knit community of leaders with vision. The College offers an open and exciting environment for eager minds on a campus where cooperation and participation clearly define the overall philosophy. The dynamic and enthusiastic faculty work hand-in-hand with an engaged student body to open new doors in liberal arts education, and through extensive options for experiential learning, student involvement is extraordinarily high. Built around the framework of the nationally acclaimed Core Curriculum, the College offers a variety of specialized instruction. In every field imaginable, Millsaps graduates continue to exceed expectations.” Click here for Colleges of Distinction's profile of Millsaps College.

(www.collegesofdistinction.com)

Millsaps was ranked 12th in the “Town-Gown Relations Are Great” category, which focuses on positive relations with the city and neighborhoods surrounding campus, and was ranked 17th in the category recognizing involvement of fraternities and sororities on campus, acknowledging that Greeks are active on campus and contribute through volunteerism, fund-raising, leadership and social life.

(Princeton Review's The Best 368 Colleges, 2009 Edition)

The Princeton Review's editors commend the College for its "generous aid packages that include federal and state loans and grants, institutional merit-based and specialized scholarships, United Methodist scholarships, and various state-supported scholarships for students from other states." The book also notes Millsaps' "reputation for its highly active, socially conscious undergrads, many of whom work with volunteer organizations in Jackson and around the world," and states that "Millsaps’ strong sense of community pervades the classrooms ... where incredibly attentive and intelligent professors provide an atmosphere rife with discussion."

(Princeton Review's America's Best Value Colleges, 2008 Edition)

Millsaps was ranked 16th in the “Town-Gown Relations Are Great” category, recognizing the harmonious relationship between the college community and the Jackson community, and was included in the list of “Best Southeastern Colleges.”

(Princeton Review's The Best 361 Colleges, 2007 Edition)

Millsaps' Else School of Management was ranked 8th in the survey's "Best Professors" category, just above Harvard and Duke. The Else School is one of 45 schools that The Princeton Review is adding to its annual "Best Business Schools" guide this year.

(Princeton Review's The Best 282 Business Schools, 2007 Edition)

Millsaps College, Mississippi's premier liberal arts institution, has been placed in the top tier of liberal arts colleges nationally by U.S. News & World Report's 2006 America's Best Colleges, establishing the College as the only Mississippi institution in the top tier of national colleges and as one of the leading institutions in the South.

(U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Colleges, 2006)

"The able and enthusiastic faculty has national rather than regional roots. Its members not only earned their academic spurs in the nation's top universities but have also taught in them. But they prefer to teach at Millsaps, a conviction that comes through loud and clear in just about everything they say."

(Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives, 2006—07 Edition)

"Since the student body is very small, so are the class sizes—allowing faculty to deliver the kind of personalized attention larger schools can't . . .One interesting aspect of Millsaps academics is the Faith & Work Initiative, a program that allows students to explore work as a ‘vocation' that arises from a deep sense of personal meaning. Designed to instill qualities of socially responsible leadership, the program challenges students to align their vocational goals with those of the family, community, church, economic structures, and the world . . . A small but popular study-abroad option offers students the chance to study languages in Costa Rica and France, and there are multi-country programs in Europe for students in pre-business and sciences programs."

(Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges, 2005 Edition)

Each year, “The Fiske Guide to Colleges” compiles and describes “more than 300 of the best and most interesting institutions in the nation.” The guide listed Millsaps College—the only school in Mississippi to be included—under “Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Business” and under “inexpensive” relative to its liberal arts peers throughout the nation. It also said that “what differentiates the school is its focus on scholarly inquiry, spiritual growth, and community service.”

(Fiske Guide to the Colleges, 2005 Edition)

“The Insider’s Guide to Colleges” contains profiles of 322 top colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Its profile of Millsaps noted that “students across the board were impressed by the openness of students to new ideas and to different types of people,” and that “a major selling point for many students is the small size of the classes.”

(The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2005 Edition)

Millsaps College is one of only two schools in Mississippi noted in this guide. Great Colleges for the Real World ranks schools based on convenience, quality and cost, aiming its targeted information at career-minded college seekers. The guide specifically praises Millsaps' adult learning programs, our community enrichment series, our leadership seminars, and our Advanced Placement Institute.

(Great Colleges for the Real World)

Millsaps students enjoy "a liberal arts education at a school whose reputation has begun to extend beyond the Southeast. One reason is surely Millsaps' lower cost, compared with that of other selective colleges across the nation. Then, too, the installation in 1989 of a campus chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest honor society, served to corroborate all the good things students and administrators had been saying for years. Millsaps is a college for high school graduates serious about learning and having a full social life."

(Barron's Best Buys in College Education)

"Students and faculty at Millsaps are committed to the concept of academic integrity and take their responsibilities to each other and to the Honor Code very seriously, fully embracing the philosophy that an Honor Code is not simply a set of rules and procedures governing academic conduct, but an opportunity to put personal responsibility and integrity into action."

(The Templeton Foundation's Colleges That Encourage Character Development, 1999)