Admissions & selectivity
Mississippi State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Mississippi State University?
Mississippi State University’s reported acceptance rate is 77.6%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 77.6%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Mississippi State University admits a broad share of its reported applicant pool, with an admission rate of 77.6%. That means the rate records how many applicants were admitted in that entering-class cycle, rather than setting a threshold for an individual applicant.
The figure is close to the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Applicants should place their own academic record beside the score ranges reported for Mississippi State University before applying.
What SAT and ACT scores do Mississippi State University students report?
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, Mississippi State University reported an average high-school GPA of 3.60 among enrolled first-year students, based on the 99.7% who reported a GPA. That average describes the academic record of enrolled students who provided a GPA, rather than an admission cutoff.
SAT submitters among enrolled students had middle-half scores from 1,100 to 1,350. Applicants can use Mississippi State University’s SAT range as a reference point for submitted scores from recent enrollees, not as a minimum.
For ACT submitters, the middle half of enrolled students scored from 21 to 29. The SAT and ACT ranges describe submitted scores, so they represent score submitters rather than every enrolled student.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Mississippi State University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 1100
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1350
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.
- 25th percentile
- 21
- 75th percentile
- 29
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at Mississippi State University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 29.3%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 34.9%
- First-year retention
- 82.5%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Transfer entry is a visible part of the undergraduate mix at Mississippi State University, alongside a substantial share of undergraduates receiving need-based federal grants. The university enrolls 18,397 undergraduates; 29.3% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 34.9% entered after beginning college elsewhere.
That composition suggests a campus serving both students using Pell support and many who arrive with prior college coursework. Pell-eligible applicants and prospective transfers should compare the university’s aid offer and transfer-credit evaluation with their own plans before enrolling.
The enrollment mix points to multiple routes into the university rather than a single first-year path.
At Mississippi State University, the six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 66.7%, above the peer median of 65.0% for comparable institutions. First-year retention is 82.5%, below the peer median of 83.1%.
Pell recipients in that cohort complete at 51.0%, falling below the overall rate by 15.7 percentage points. Enrolled students can expect a university where a majority graduate within six years, but the experience is not the same for everyone.
A student arriving with a Pell Grant faces a different completion picture than the one the overall rate describes.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.