That is what we are going to do here. I am not going to tell you whether Millsaps College is “good” or “bad” for your child—that is a question no article can answer, because it depends on what your child wants to study, what your family can afford, and how your child feels walking around that campus. What I can do is show you, using official United States government data, what kind of institution it is, what it requires for admission, what it actually costs, and what happens to the students already there. With that information in hand, you can decide whether it is worth investigating further.
What Kind of School It Is and Where It Stands
Let’s start with the basics. Millsaps College is a private, nonprofit, four-year college. The federal system that classifies colleges describes it as a baccalaureate college focused on the arts and sciences: small, selective in admissions, and “highly residential”—meaning that at least half of its degree-seeking students live in institution-provided housing and nearly all attend full time.
That last point matters more than it may seem. A school being “highly residential” does not mean your child has to move there—it means that is how the experience of most of its students is structured. And here is something almost no family calculates soon enough: the cost of living on campus is almost never included with tuition in the glossy brochure. You need to request it separately, including the meal plan, before comparing this school with any other.
Millsaps is in Jackson, Mississippi, within Hinds County and the city’s metropolitan area. That does not mean the campus is right downtown. If your child were considering living at home and commuting every day, the recommendation is simple: drive the route yourself on a weekday, at the exact time your child’s classes would meet. The actual travel time is almost never what the map says.
As for academic level, the government records a master’s degree as the highest level the institution reports offering and classifies it as primarily a baccalaureate institution. That is general institutional information—it does not tell you whether the specific major your child is interested in is offered there or whether it connects to a graduate program. Ask admissions directly.
One point worth making clear: Millsaps College is not listed as a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. Those are three different designations with different histories, and none applies here. Not appearing on those lists says nothing about which students the school serves today, how many Latino students are on campus, or how your child would feel there. You learn that by talking with the school and, if possible, with a current student.
The Size of the Community: A Small School and What That Means
This is where the picture starts to come into sharper focus. Millsaps had total enrollment of 626 in the recent official fall count—a small school with fewer than a thousand people altogether. Of that total, undergraduate enrollment was 582 and graduate enrollment was 44: this is, above all, a baccalaureate institution.
Compared with nearly a thousand similar selective private schools included in the government’s census, Millsaps is on the smaller side: seven out of ten of those schools have more students. Being small does not make it better or worse—but it does change one practical consideration you should ask about: whether courses in your child’s intended major are offered every semester or only once a year. That can determine how long it takes to graduate.
As for who makes up this community: the share of undergraduate students who identified as Hispanic or Latino was 4 out of every 100. That is a small share—in fact, among the group of nearly a thousand similar selective private schools, Millsaps falls in the lowest quarter on this measure. That does not remove the school from your child’s list, but if your child would be among the few Latino students there, it is worth asking directly what student organization, cultural center, or person in the admissions office speaks Spanish, and talking with a current student before deciding.
It is also a community with almost no adult students—only 2 out of every 100 are between the ages of 25 and 64—and with a fairly even balance between men and women: 46 out of every 100 are women.
How It Works Internally: Calendar, Majors, and Access to Professors
The academic year at Millsaps is organized into semesters—two long terms of about 15 weeks each. The school reported that it accepts credit for AP exams and also for what the government calls “credit for life experience”: independent study, adult courses, work experience, portfolios, and prior certifications. Reporting that does not mean your child will automatically receive credit. Before counting those savings in your budget, request a written transfer-credit evaluation.
As for what students study there: Millsaps awarded 133 bachelor’s degrees in the most recently reported year, distributed across 17 families of majors. But the distribution is not even—biology and biomedical sciences accounted for 51 of those 133 degrees, or 38 out of every 100. It is a school with broad offerings on paper but a strong concentration in that area. And with numbers this small, a single year’s figure can shift considerably: request the last three years of data for the exact program your child is interested in before assuming that represents “the current offerings.”
One figure that often looks impressive on paper is the student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, one of the lowest reported among this type of school. But be careful—that ratio does not measure actual class size or individual attention. It is an institutional average, not a seat count. Ask directly how many students are in the first-year classes for the major your child is interested in.
The institution also reports structured opportunities: study abroad, undergraduate research alongside faculty members, a complete program offered only during evenings or weekends, and pathways to teacher certification. Their inclusion in the report confirms that they exist as stated options—it does not automatically tell you how to gain access, how much capacity is available, or whether they apply to your child’s specific major.
Getting into Millsaps: What They Require and What Actually Happened
Here we come to one of the most important pieces for any family. Millsaps College does not have open admissions—there are requirements it reviews before saying yes. Of the components it evaluates, it identified three as required: the high school transcript, the high school GPA, and an English proficiency exam for applicants to whom that requirement applies. Other components are not required, but the school does consider them if you submit them: your child’s class rank, completion of the college-preparatory curriculum the school requires, the personal essay, letters of recommendation, a portfolio or competency exam, and whether a family member previously attended.
On that last point: if no one in your family attended Millsaps, do not spend energy worrying about it. Spend that energy on what is within your child’s control—their grades, essay, and recommendations.
One fact worth highlighting: the published undergraduate application fee is $0. Applying costs nothing.
And how selective is it in practice? In the most recently reported cycle, the number of first-time applicants was 2,058. Offers of admission went to 1,009—49 out of every 100. Compared with nearly a thousand similar selective private schools, that puts Millsaps on the more selective side: seven out of ten of those schools accepted a higher percentage of applicants than Millsaps. On the other side of that calculation, 1,049 applicants did not receive an offer. The record does not distinguish among those who were rejected, wait-listed, or withdrew their applications—and this figure covers the whole school, not a particular major. If your child is applying to a specific program, request that number directly from admissions.
Here is something that surprises many families: out of every 100 admitted applicants, only 15 ultimately enrolled at Millsaps that fall. The other 85 had earned a place but did not take it. Put another way: of every seven young people who receive a yes, roughly one ends up attending. Do not read that as a mark against the school—the record does not say why each person made their decision. What matters is this: what others decided does not tell you what Millsaps will offer you. Wait for your own letter showing the net price—that is what it will actually cost your family—and use that number to decide whether the school stays on the list.
As for standardized tests: the SAT and ACT are not required at Millsaps. If your child submits them, they are considered; if not, the application remains valid. In practice, almost no one submits them: only 1 out of every 100 enrolled students submitted SAT scores.
And regarding transfers: in the most recent count, 24 students arrived at Millsaps after studying at another college. The school does not report how many of its own students transfer elsewhere—that information is not available, and that does not mean no one does it.
The Published Price and What People Actually Pay
At Millsaps College, among 39 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $20,651. Among 21 students from the same population whose EFC family income was between $48,001 and $75,000, it was $26,671; among 37 students whose EFC family income exceeded $110,000, it was $32,686. For dependent students, the income band combines their parents’ income with their own.
The difference between the average for the lowest-income band (39 students) and the average for the highest-income band (37 students) is $12,035. These are group averages, not a prediction of your family’s price. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $26,739.
Even after grant and scholarship aid was subtracted, the average net price for the lowest-income families was $20,651 in the 2022-23 academic year. If that number does not fit your budget, it is better to see it today than in August.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, correctly identifying yours is the first step. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average with grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The financial aid letter you receive is what ultimately matters.
Grants, Aid, and Loans: How This Is Financed in Practice
The good news is that practically all degree-seeking students at Millsaps receive some form of grant or scholarship aid: the report shows 100 out of every 100 (a rounded figure, so it may not literally mean everyone). Among recipients, the annual average was $32,953. That is a large figure—but it is an average that includes much larger and much smaller awards. It is not your offer. Out of every 100 students, 36 received a Pell Grant, the federal aid for low-income families.
Now for the other side of the coin, the one almost no one wants to face directly: 61 out of every 100 Millsaps undergraduate students took out a federal student loan in the most recently reported year. Financing an education with debt is the norm here, not the exception. Among borrowers, the average amount borrowed that year was $6,604. If your child borrowed a similar amount in each of the four years of the degree program, the total would be around $26,416—excluding interest and excluding anything parents might borrow separately through Parent PLUS loans, which are not included in this calculation.
That decision—how much to borrow and for how many years—is made before the first signature, not at the end. And it is a decision for the entire family, not only the student who signs.
The institution also reports offering a tuition installment plan, in case you prefer to spread the cost throughout the year instead of paying it all at once.
Living There: Campus, Housing, Sports, and Support
Millsaps has its own housing and meal plans, although it does not require all full-time students to live on campus—the report explicitly indicated that there is no universal requirement, although that does not rule out a requirement for a particular program. The reported maximum housing capacity is 819 students. The existence of a room does not guarantee that a bed will be available for your child: request the annual rate, the housing application deadline, and written confirmation of whether a place is guaranteed or your child would be placed on a waiting list.
As for ROTC, Millsaps reported an opportunity with the Army branch—the Navy and Air Force were not marked. That does not mean those options are impossible, only that they are not confirmed in this report; you need to ask directly.
The school competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in football, basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track and field. If your child wants to compete, the recommendation is specific: write directly to the coach for that sport, ask whether there is a place on the team, which division they compete in, and whether that specific sport offers athletic scholarships.
As for distance education: the school offers it at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, but in the most recent count, no undergraduate student took their entire course load through distance education—everyone took at least one in-person class. The school also explicitly reported that it does not have a complete undergraduate program that can be completed entirely through distance education. If that is important to your family, confirm it in writing.
The library has employed staff, physical and digital collections, and interlibrary loan—a full range of services under the standards measured by the government. The institution also reports additional support: combined academic and career counseling, employment services for current students, placement services for graduates, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program for veterans, a dedicated point of contact for military families, and a webpage describing services for students with disabilities.
How Likely Your Child Is to Stay and Graduate
This is perhaps the section that carries the most weight for your child’s actual future.
From a recent cohort of 181 first-time, full-time, bachelor’s-degree-seeking students, 133 met the official retention criterion the following year: they were still enrolled there or had already graduated. That is 73 out of every 100. The other 48 were not included in that count—the record does not say whether they transferred to another college, took a break, or stopped studying altogether. Not returning is not the same as dropping out.
Compared with similar schools, that figure falls slightly below the midpoint of the group—more similar schools retained a higher share of their students than retained a lower share.
As for graduation: of the 213 first-time, full-time students who began a bachelor’s degree in 2017, 127 had graduated from Millsaps within six years. That is 60 out of every 100. At four years, the figure was already 58 out of every 100—only two points lower, which says something positive: most of those who graduate do so within the standard time rather than taking much longer. Compared with similar schools, this graduation rate falls below the midpoint of the group.
Here is a hard truth, stated plainly: more than half of that cohort graduated from Millsaps within the time frame—but that also means four out of ten did not graduate there, and the record does not allow us to reconstruct fully what happened to them. Missing data is not the same as zero and does not justify assuming that they dropped out.
There is an even longer view: among a cohort that entered between 2015 and 2016, 71 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from Millsaps eight years later. Given enough time, most did earn one. But within that same group, the income-related gap is real and worth stating directly: among students who received a Pell Grant, only 52 out of every 100 earned a credential within those eight years, compared with a non-Pell group whose rate was 26 points higher. If your family would qualify for Pell, this warrants a direct question to the school: what counseling is assigned to those students, whether emergency aid is available, and whether the institutional scholarship renews automatically each year. Ask for a written response.
What You Now Know and What Remains Yours to Decide
You now know Millsaps College in a way no brochure would have shown you: you know it is a small, selective school with clear admissions requirements but also room for your child to add components beyond the academic record. You know that the published price is high, that the actual price after aid remains high even for lower-income families, and that financing with loans is the norm there, not the exception. You know that most of those who enroll stay and, over time, most graduate—but you also know there is a real gap for students with greater financial need, and that it calls for specific questions before signing anything.
None of this tells your child whether to attend. This is one piece of the map—a piece you now know well. Put it together with what your child has built so far and what your family can afford, and from there a plan will emerge that belongs to your family, not to anyone else.
Source note: The information presented comes from official data reported by Millsaps College to the United States Department of Education’s IPEDS system and corresponds to the cycles and academic years indicated in each section. Best College Aid does not represent Millsaps College or any government agency; this article is informational and does not constitute individualized admissions advice.