Millsaps College — Admission Snapshot 2026
A complete at-a-glance picture of every metric that matters for your 2026 application
Millsaps College, founded in 1890 in Jackson, Mississippi, is a private liberal arts college ranked #136 in National Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News. Known for its rigorous academics and Honor Code system, Millsaps offers distinctive programs in business administration through its Else School of Management and neuroscience through its partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The college's 100-acre campus, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, blends Gothic architecture with modern facilities like the newly renovated Olin Science Hall and the Hargrove Memorial Organ. Millsaps' 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio ensures personalized attention, with 100% of students participating in internships, research, or study abroad through the college's Faith and Work Initiative.
The college's location in Mississippi's capital provides unparalleled access to government, healthcare, and legal internships, including opportunities at the State Capitol and numerous Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Jackson. Millsaps is one of only 40 colleges nationwide with a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and maintains strong traditions like the Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series. NCAA Division III athletics and over 80 student organizations foster a vibrant campus community, while the college's Methodist heritage informs its commitment to social justice and ethical leadership. The Millsaps-Wilson Library houses special collections including Civil Rights Movement archives and the Eudora Welty Collection.
Millsaps College Acceptance Rate
Millsaps College is a well-known institution. It has a selective admission process. The acceptance rate of Millsaps College is 49%. This means that 49 out of every 100 applicants get admitted.
Admissions Guidelines
- Selective Enrollment: Applicants need a solid GPA and proof of academic growth.
- Holistic Balance: Strong recommendations and community involvement are highly valued.
Selectivity at a Glance
Selective
If your GPA is slightly below the institutional average, you can remain competitive by scoring well on standardized tests and showcasing leadership in co-curricular activities.
Recommended Academic Profile
Data verified via IPEDS, College Scorecard (Nov 2025) and the Common Data Set (CDS). Expert Review led by Sohaib Khan and Dr. Waseem.
Millsaps GPA Requirement
The average GPA of the admitted students at Millsaps is 3.65. Millsaps is highly selective.
Mostly A's with a few B's will keep you competitive. Taking AP/IB courses related to your field will improve your chances.
Note: This is an unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale. Students with AP or IB courses will typically have a weighted GPA of 3.85-4.05 for this same academic profile.If your GPA is between 3.35 and 3.65, a strong SAT or ACT score is recommended.
Millsaps GPA & Admission Outlook
Assessment: Selective; solid academic performance is expected.
Recommended Strategy: Focus on a Strong 'Spike' in extracurriculars or research.
Admissions at Millsaps utilize a Holistic Review process. With an average admitted GPA of 3.65, the following table illustrates how your specific academic profile aligns with institutional expectations.
Expert Insight: 2026 Evaluation Metrics
- Acceptance rate approximately 43-49% (IPEDS 2024-25: 1,009 admitted of 2,340 applicants); $0 application fee; test-optional; rolling admissions with priority dates of March 1 (fall) and November 1 (spring); personal essay and letters of recommendation are recommended but not required.
- Millsaps ranks #1 in Mississippi for graduate earnings 10 years after starting college; has the highest four-year graduation rate of any college or university in the state; and was the first Mississippi school to earn a Phi Beta Kappa chapter (1989).
- Else School of Management holds AACSB accreditation - rare for an institution of Millsaps' size (~620 undergrads); qualified students may complete a fifth-year master's degree in accounting (M.Acc.) on the same campus.
- Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is integrated across all disciplines (not a separate program), and Millsaps operates a 4,500-acre biocultural research reserve in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula - both are distinctive experiential features for a 100-acre urban campus in Jackson, MS.
- The Rigor Metric: At Millsaps, a slightly lower GPA (e.g., 3.8) in a transcript featuring multiple AP or IB courses is often prioritized over a 4.0 in a standard curriculum.
- The Upward Trend: If your early high school grades were lower, an upward trajectory in 11th and 12th grade demonstrates Academic Resilience.
Data Source: Verified via IPEDS and latest Common Data Set (CDS). Reviewed by our academic board led by Sohaib Khan and Dr. Waseem.
Check Your Admission Chances at Millsaps
Admission Chance Predictor
Real-Time Sensitive Analysis — based on Millsaps College's verified institutional data
Adjust the sliders to see how every decimal point affects your outcome.
✅ Verified Data: Institutional records for 2026.
Calculated via College Portal's Human-Intelligence (HI) Methodology & Editorial Standards. Verified by Sohaib Ahmad Khan.
Millsaps College (Millsaps) Test Requirements
In this competitive environment, standardized scores are no longer elective; they serve as a critical standardized benchmark to validate high school GPA and course rigor. Applicants should aim for scores within or above the middle 50% range of the 2026 admitted class to remain viable in the Holistic Review process. At institutions that remain test-optional, submitting a high-percentile score is still the primary strategy for securing merit-based scholarships and distinguishing one's profile in a high-volume applicant pool.
Can I Get Into Millsaps Without SAT or ACT?
Millsaps College Average SAT Score: 1245
The average SAT score of the admitted students at Millsaps College is 1245 on the 1600 SAT scale.
SAT Competitiveness
This score makes it slightly Competitive for SAT test scores. You need to do well to score 1245 on the SAT.
If your score is below 1205, retaking the SAT is strongly recommended to improve your chances at Millsaps. Retaking the test multiple times is completely normal — most competitive applicants take the SAT two or three times to achieve their best score. There is no official limit on attempts.
SAT Scores Breakdown by Sections
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT Math | - | - | - |
| SAT Reading | - | - | - |
| SAT Composite | 1245 | 1205 | 1275 |
It means that if you have scored less than 1205 then you are below most of the admitted students at Millsaps and your chances of admission are very few. But if you have scored 1275 or more, your chances of admission are higher. 25th percentile means that only 25% of the admitted students have fewer scores than this score. 75th percentile marks the score of the upper 25% of the students.
View list of all colleges with average SAT score of 1250
Can I get into Millsaps College (Millsaps) with a 1300 SAT?
With a 1300 SAT Score, your chances of admission at Millsaps College (Millsaps) are good but the admission staff at Millsaps tests your all-around personality and your academics. Your GPA, Class performance, SAT/ACT/Test scores, and AP or IB Courses can help your application stand out. Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and interpersonal communication skills are very important. Additionally, if you cannot perform well in one area, you have a chance to showcase your strengths and abilities in other areas, improving other areas will help you secure admission. You need to show better performance in all areas. An equally high GPA, taking IB or AP Courses and your role in leadership activities will increase your chances of admission. However, if you equally compete well in all other areas, your chances of admission are high.
Your 2026 Admissions Roadmap for Millsaps
Selective Strategy: Competitive Positioning
At Millsaps, admissions officers seek reliable, high-achieving students. The goal is to be a top-tier applicant to trigger both admission and high-value merit aid.
Millsaps uses rolling admissions with a $0 application fee, test-optional policy, and no hard supplemental essay requirement for standard first-year admission. Personal essay and letters of recommendation are listed as recommended but not required. This creates a real strategic opening: students who submit strong optional materials (a well-crafted personal statement that goes beyond the Common App essay and a specific, credible recommendation letter) distinguish themselves in a process where many applicants submit only the transcript. Priority deadlines are March 1 for fall and November 1 for spring; financial aid and merit scholarship consideration is strongest for on-time applicants. Millsaps had 2,340 applicants for the 2024-25 cycle with an acceptance rate around 43%; submitting an optional essay that references specific Millsaps programs, faculty, or the Community Engaged Learning structure adds meaningful signal in a holistically reviewed process.
Millsaps integrates Community Engaged Learning (CEL) across all academic disciplines - this is not a service-learning add-on or an optional track, but a curriculum-wide program where students partner with Jackson-area organizations to do real policy, health, arts, and civic work as part of their coursework. Recent CEL course work has included writing policy papers for Mississippi legislators, facilitating activities for disabled adults, and drafting business plans for local startups. For business-track students, ELSEWorks is the Else School of Management's entrepreneurship program, operating since 2011 to revitalize the Midtown neighborhood adjacent to campus. Both programs signal that Millsaps expects students to bring their academic work to bear on real community problems - an expectation that applicants should acknowledge explicitly in any optional essay, particularly when applying to business, public policy, government, or social science tracks.
Millsaps has cooperative agreements with regional professional schools that offer automatic acceptance to qualified Millsaps students across a range of pre-health paths including medicine, dentistry, nursing, veterinary medicine, public health, physical and occupational therapy, pharmacy, and chiropractic care. These are not simply strong recommendations or preferred pathways - they are formal agreements in which meeting the partner institution's criteria triggers automatic acceptance. Millsaps ranks #1 in Mississippi for earnings ten years after graduation and has the highest four-year graduation rate of any college in the state; for pre-health students, those outcomes reflect a combination of the 9:1 student-faculty ratio, average class size of 10, and the pre-health cooperative framework. Identify your specific health career target and ask admissions to provide the current list of cooperative agreement institutions before making enrollment decisions.
Millsaps' Else School of Management holds AACSB accreditation, the gold standard for business schools internationally. At an institution of approximately 621 undergraduates, this is unusually distinguished: fewer than 5% of business programs worldwide hold AACSB accreditation, and most that do are much larger schools. Business majors include accounting, business administration, business analytics, and economics, with concentrations in areas like financial services and analytics. Qualified students may complete a fifth-year master's degree (M.Acc. or M.Acc.A.) on the same campus. Millsaps was also the first school in Mississippi to have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter (1989). For students comparing Millsaps against larger Mississippi public schools, the AACSB distinction and Phi Beta Kappa membership are concrete institutional quality markers that survive the size comparison and should be invoked in any application narrative for business or honors tracks.
Millsaps College (Jackson, MS, UNITID 175980) is sometimes confused in search results with Mississippi State University (MSU, Starkville) or with other "Millsaps"-named entities because the college name is identical to the surname of its Confederate-veteran founder, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps, and the abbreviation "MC" overlaps with Mississippi College (also in Jackson, a Baptist institution). The two Jackson-area colleges - Millsaps (United Methodist affiliated, non-sectarian in practice, liberal arts, ~620 undergrads) and Mississippi College (Baptist, comprehensive university, ~3,000+ students) - share a city but are otherwise entirely different institutions. Confirm UNITID 175980 and millsaps.edu before referencing any admissions data or financial aid estimates.
Millsaps Profile
Is a Millsaps Degree Worth It?
Getting into Millsaps can be a great opportunity for many students. It is a prestigious institution known for its strong programs. However, whether it is worth it depends on your personal and academic goals, as well as your financial situation. Millsaps offers a rigorous academic environment and access to cutting-edge research, but it may not be the best fit for everyone. It's important to consider factors such as cost, location, and specific academic programs when making this decision.
Please note that the average household income of the admitted students at Millsaps is $56,800 and the graduate unemployment rate is 3.79%.
How much does a degree from Millsaps Cost?
The average annual cost of the degree at Millsaps College is $61,025. As most of the students receive Pell Grants and Federal Grants the average annual net price a student has to pay at Millsaps College is much less than this.
35.6% of the students are receiving Pell Grant and 61.2 percent are receiving Federal Grants. So it is a better choice to go to Millsaps and apply for PELL or federal loan grants.
At Millsaps College, you will have no problem receiving any scholarship from the federal government. Fill in the FAFSA application form at the earliest and enlist Millsaps as your choice in the form.
How much does a Millsaps Graduate earn?
The average annual salary of the graduate after 4–6 years of graduation is $53,848. An average Millsaps graduate makes this much after 10 years of enrollment (4–6 years after graduation).
The average annual income of a graduate in the United States is $40,595.
Compare Similar Colleges
Less Competitive Schools
These schools have lower average SAT or ACT scores than Millsaps College. If your SAT or ACT score is slightly lower, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham-Southern College | Birmingham, AL | 1197 | 24 |
| University of Mobile | Mobile, AL | 1220 | 24 |
| Samford University | Birmingham, AL | 1203 | 26 |
| John Brown University | Siloam Springs, AR | 1222 | 26 |
| Ouachita Baptist University | Arkadelphia, AR | 1212 | 25 |
| California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks, CA | 1224 | 26 |
| University of Redlands | Redlands, CA | 1231 | 28 |
| Eastern Connecticut State University | Willimantic, CT | 1200 | NA |
| University of Hartford | West Hartford, CT | 1207 | 29 |
| Quinnipiac University | Hamden, CT | 1212 | 27 |
Equally Competitive Schools
These schools have the same range of average SAT or ACT scores as Millsaps College. If your SAT or ACT score is competitive, you'll be competitive for these schools also.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | Birmingham, AL | 1251 | 26 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa, FL | 1235 | 27 |
| Covenant College | Lookout Mountain, GA | 1254 | 27 |
| Bradley University | Peoria, IL | 1237 | 28 |
| DePaul University | Chicago, IL | 1254 | 29 |
More Competitive Schools
These schools have higher average SAT or ACT scores than Millsaps College. If you improve your SAT or ACT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama in Huntsville | Huntsville, AL | 1321 | 28 |
| The University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL | 1287 | 28 |
| Auburn University | Auburn, AL | 1318 | 28 |
| University of the Pacific | Stockton, CA | 1303 | 27 |
| Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego, CA | 1278 | 26 |
Degree Programs at Millsaps
Bachelor Degree Programs
Full list of all degree programs offered by Millsaps College →
Frequently Asked Questions About Millsaps Admissions
Graduates of this university typically earn a moderate salary, $53,848 annually, with some fluctuation based on the field.
The tuition fee at this university is quite high, approximately $61,025 or more per year, so it is important to consider additional funding options.
35.6% of students receive a Pell Grant at this institution. Your chances of need-based aid are moderate and depend primarily on your household income. Filing FAFSA early significantly improves your chances of receiving the maximum available grant amount.
The acceptance rate of Millsaps College is 49% which is relatively high, above 20%, making it somewhat easier to gain admission compared to other top-tier universities.
The average GPA of admitted students is 3.65. This reflects the competitive academic profile expected from applicants.
While there is no single cutoff that guarantees a rejection, admission staff uses your GPA to determine if you are a best fit. If you have at least a 3.35, you are in the standard pool. If you are below a 3.35, we need to focus on your personal essay and letters of recommendation to explain the context behind your grades.
If your GPA is 3.25 or less, it may make admission difficult. However, your chances may improve if you have strong test scores, extracurricular activities, and essays. But this does not mean that you must not apply, or you do not have any chances. With additional AP courses, you can increase your chances even with this GPA.
While the average GPA of admitted students is 3.65, applicants with lower GPAs can still be considered if they have strong test scores, extracurriculars, and compelling personal essays that demonstrate resilience and potential.
Admission to Millsaps College is based on SAT, and a strong SAT score is essential. Aim for scores above 1245 for the best chances, although the overall application strength also matters. Your SAT must be in the range of 1205–1275.
Yes, many students successfully transfer each year. Be prepared with your academic transcripts, recommendation letters, and a solid personal statement to make your application competitive.
To improve your chances, focus on excelling academically, building a strong extracurricular profile, and submitting standout essays. High SAT/ACT scores are also crucial for competitive admissions.
