The University of Southern Mississippi

Established in 1910, University of Southern Mississippi is a public institute in Mississippi, USA. In 1962, the Legislature changed the name of this university to University of Southern Mississippi. It is one of America’s leading research institutes that has earned distinction as a community-engaged Carnegie R1 University. Furthermore, the university is among only 1% of the institutions in the world to earn dual accreditation in both Accounting and Business by AACSB. USM has two campuses namely the Hattiesburg Campus and Gulf Park Campus.

According to Fall 2024 enrollment, USM has more than 13,000 students. Out of this, 10,000+ are undergraduate students and 2,900+ are graduate students. The full-time student enrollment is more than 11,000. Over 70 countries are represented by students at USM. A few sources have mentioned that the University of Southern Mississippi acceptance rate is 99%. This means that the university is less selective at the time of admission. The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) provides a diverse environment for international students with over 140 UG programs and more than 200 Graduate programs. The courses are offered at its Dual campus, Hattiesburg and Gulf Park, along with teaching and research sites and online options. Additionally, the university supports Indian students through its Indian Students Association.

• Programs: The University of Southern Mississippi courses are offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Southern Miss offers 300+ programs for international students. At the UG level, 140+ courses are available and at the PG level, 200+ courses are available
• Campus: The university operates on two campuses Hattiesburg and Gulf Park. There are five teaching and research sites in Mississippi and through online at Southern Miss
• Application Process: International UG applicants can apply via Common App or USM application. On the other hand, the graduate applicants can fill the online application form directly from the official website of the university. An application fee has to be paid too.
• International student support services: At USM, the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) coordinates all the things related to international students. It provides students with the orientation, educational workshops on immigration and cultural topics, opportunities for intercultural programs, and support for campus engagement with global themes.
• Low Cost of Living: A few unofficial sources claim that the cost of living, where University of Southern Mississippi is located i.e. Hattiesburg have low cost of living. The total cost of attendance for UG students at USM Mississippi is USD 30,786 for UG students (Around INR 27.1 L) and USD 29,360 (Around INR 26 L) for PG students.The housing cost is USD 12,278 while living on campus and USD 10,648 while living off campus.

Application Fee waiver- To know the details about application fee waiver at Southern Miss, it is important to check official website.

 The application deadline for USM international applicants for Fall intake students is closed. 

Established in 1910, University of Southern Mississippi is a public institute in Mississippi, USA. In 1962, the Legislature changed the name of this university to University of Southern Mississippi. It is one of America’s leading research institutes that has earned distinction as a community-engaged Carnegie R1 University. Furthermore, the university is among only 1% of the institutions in the world to earn dual accreditation in both Accounting and Business by AACSB. USM has two campuses namely the Hattiesburg Campus and Gulf Park Campus.

According to Fall 2024 enrollment, USM has more than 13,000 students. Out of this, 10,000+ are undergraduate students and 2,900+ are graduate students. The full-time student enrollment is more than 11,000. Over 70 countries are represented by students at USM. A few sources have mentioned that the University of Southern Mississippi acceptance rate is 99%. This means that the university is less selective at the time of admission. The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) provides a diverse environment for international students with over 140 UG programs and more than 200 Graduate programs. The courses are offered at its Dual campus, Hattiesburg and Gulf Park, along with teaching and research sites and online options. Additionally, the university supports Indian students through its Indian Students Association.

• Programs: The University of Southern Mississippi courses are offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Southern Miss offers 300+ programs for international students. At the UG level, 140+ courses are available and at the PG level, 200+ courses are available
• Campus: The university operates on two campuses Hattiesburg and Gulf Park. There are five teaching and research sites in Mississippi and through online at Southern Miss
• Application Process: International UG applicants can apply via Common App or USM application. On the other hand, the graduate applicants can fill the online application form directly from the official website of the university. An application fee has to be paid too.
• International student support services: At USM, the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) coordinates all the things related to international students. It provides students with the orientation, educational workshops on immigration and cultural topics, opportunities for intercultural programs, and support for campus engagement with global themes.
• Low Cost of Living: A few unofficial sources claim that the cost of living, where University of Southern Mississippi is located i.e. Hattiesburg have low cost of living. The total cost of attendance for UG students at USM Mississippi is USD 30,786 for UG students (Around INR 27.1 L) and USD 29,360 (Around INR 26 L) for PG students.The housing cost is USD 12,278 while living on campus and USD 10,648 while living off campus.

Application Fee waiver- To know the details about application fee waiver at Southern Miss, it is important to check official website.

Southern Miss offers scholarships to international students. Around 6 USM scholarships options are available. Scholarships are offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The details about Freshman Scholarships are given below:

Freshman Scholarships

• The University of Southern Mississippi Freshman scholarships are available to high school seniors who have been admitted to the university in the Fall semester. Make sure to apply to the university as per the specified admission deadline. For a few freshman scholarships, the applicants are required to submit a separate scholarship application
• A complete admission file for the Freshman Scholarships includes an application for admission, an application fee, high school transcript, SAT / ACT score
• The applicants are required to meet the requirements for achieving the core GPA. For Freshman scholarship consideration, core GPA is calculated from the high school transcript based on the student’s first 6 semesters of high school work
• A few of the freshman scholarships available to students are Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarships, Freshman Designation-Based Scholarships, etc.

Graduate Assistantships

• Southern Miss graduate assistantships are offered by the academic department to which students apply. There are no separate applications for the assistantships
• To be considered for these, the applicants are required to simply indicate on the graduate application, in the specific area, that they should be considered

At the undergraduate level, the University of Southern Mississippi offers over 140 academic programs. On the other hand, the university offers more than 200 master’s and doctoral programs. Two of the most popular the University of Southern Mississippi courses are MS in Computer Science and BS in Computer Science. Furthermore, there are certain academic departments / courses at the university that offer credit for pathways / internships. A few of these departments are given below:

• College of Business
• School of Mass Comm. And Journalism
• Department of Geography
• Department of Criminal Justice

There are 4 colleges at Southern Miss now which are further consolidated into traditional departments and thematic schools. The colleges are:

• College of Business and Economic Development
• College of Nursing and Health Professions
• College of Education and Human Sciences
• College of Arts and Sciences

Fine Arts

USM Mississippi is the only institution within the state, and one of the dozen universities in America, to be accredited in all four Fine Arts emphasis areas: Arts, Dance, Music, and Theatre. It operates the Southern Miss Wind Ensemble and the USM Symphony Orchestra.

Subject Rankings

USM Mississippi ranks at No. 90 in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Education schools. This university has jumped nine spots since breaking in the Top 100 schools in 2024 and is currently the second-highest ranked institution in Mississippi for Teacher Education programs. These rankings for Education programs evaluate the university on a number of factors like faculty resources, student selectivity, research activity and peer assessment.

A few of the names included in the USM notable alumni list are Phil Bryant, Catherine Cora, Brian Dozier, Gary Grubbs, etc. Given below are professions of the University of Southern Mississippi notable alumni:

USM has mentioned placement details for few courses only like Nursing BSN MPA etc. The placement data for these programs -

BSN

• No. of program completers: 19
• No. of students employed: 100%

MPA

• No. of program completers: 26
• No. of students employed: 100%

As per Shiksha Study Abroad, the University of Southern Mississippi tuition fees for UG courses is between INR 10 lakh – INR 10.5 lakh. Whereas, for graduate courses, the tuition fee range is INR 9 lakh – INR 18 lakh.

Cost of Attendance: Refer to the table given below to check Southern Miss tuition for the academic year 2025-26:

 The application deadline for USM international applicants for Fall intake students is closed. 

Indian applicants can apply for The University of Southern Mississippi admissions on the university's Official Application Portal. Regarding admission rarities, the university offers admission to students based on the eligibility criteria for the course of choice. To gain admission, all overseas applicants must fulfil the The University of Southern Mississippi eligibility criteria, which include academic transcripts, GPA requirements, results on standardized and aptitude tests, SOP, LOR, Essay and CV. Additionally, students must provide their results from entrance/English language proficiency tests, such as IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, GRE and GMAT.

The Hattiesburg campus spans 300 acres and more than 180 buildings are located here. Also, this campus is home to the sixth-oldest acceptance based Honors College in the nation. On the other hand, the Gulf Park campus spans 52 acres and is a beachfront campus in Long Beach, Mississippi. The Gulf Park campus is the only four-year public institution situated on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Athletics

The University of Southern Mississippi is the home to the Golden Eagles. The student-athletes compete in the 17 NCAA Division I sports, mainly as members of the Sun Belt Conference. This university has captured National titles twice in Football and three times in Track & Field. Furthermore, Golden Eagle Baseball team are two-time Conference USA champions and have been invited to 12 regional NCAA tournaments. Additionally, the Golden Eagle Baseball team has the No. 3 recruiting class in the country by Baseball America.

Student Organizations

There are a number of student organisations at Southern Miss. A number of international student associations are also there at the university, including Indian Student Association, Bangladeshi Student Association, Spanish Club, Pakistani Cultural Club, etc.

University of Southern Mississippi Accommodation & Meals

The University of Southern Mississippi is a dual-campus institution. It serves students on campuses in Hattiesburg and Long Beach. The Hattiesburg campus spans 300 acres. On the other hand, the Gulf Park campus is a 52-acre campus located in Long Beach, Mississippi. It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 50 academic fields. In the context of student life, USM offers more than 200 student organizations, recreation services, safety, etc.

The housing facility is offered to first-year freshman students of USM. Students are required to fill out the housing application form. Also, note that meal plans are automatically assigned to students when they apply for housing. The housing options for first-year students are Century Park, Vann Hall, Hillcrest Hall, Scott Hall, etc. The occupancy at the on-campus residences is a double room and a single room.

The University of Southern Mississippi is one of the most prominent universities in the USA. If we see The University of Southern Mississippi rankings, top ranking bodies all over the globe rank it. According to Shiksha Popularity Rankings 2026, The University of Southern Mississippi is ranked at #389 in the USA. Whereas, in the world rankings, The University of Southern Mississippi ranks at #1038 in 2026. Subject rankings of the The University of Southern Mississippi are also given below-

By Other Ranking Bodies

Apart from Shiksha Popularity ranking, US News has also ranked the university globally. It ranks The University of Southern Mississippi at #342 in 2025.

The University of Southern Mississippi acceptance rate for Indian students is 99.12% which means that this university is easy to get into. So students with academic background and who meet the entry requirements have a higher chance of taking admission to this university. An overview of the acceptance rate in the previous years is mentioned below:

According to the USM facts, it is a Carnegie R1 research institute and one of the leading America’s research universities. Moreover, the university is one of only 39 institutions in USA that is accredited in the Theatre, Design, Art, and Music. A comparison of USM along with the similar ranking universities namely Texas A&M University Kingsville and Arkansas State University is given below:

USM is a Carnegie R1 research institution and one of nation’s leading research universities. The UG Symposium on Research and Creative Activity at the University of Southern Mississippi is an annual event that shows the outstanding work being done by students on campus. On the other hand, the Graduate Research Symposium provides PG students an opportunity to show their research to faculty, staff and students. Key research areas at this university are Marine Science and Polymer Science and Engineering.