• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The University of Mississippi

Commencement

  • About
    • History & Background
  • Graduates
    • Commencement Checklist
    • Cap & Gown
    • Contacts
  • Visitors
    • Lodging
    • Dining
    • Campus Map
    • COVID-19 Protocols and Practices
  • Journey to Commencement
  • 2020 Graduates
    • Ticket Allotment for 2020 Graduates
  • 2021 Graduates
    • Ticket Allotment for 2021 Graduates
  • Commencement FAQs

History and Background

Known affectionately as Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi opened its doors to 80 students in 1848. For 23 years, it was Mississippi’s only public institution of higher learning. For 110 years, it was the state’s only comprehensive university.

Mississippi’s flagship university established the fourth state-supported law school in the nation (1854) and was one of the first in the nation to offer engineering education (1854). It was one of the first in the South to admit women (1882) and the first to hire a female faculty member (1885).

Since its first class of 80 students, Ole Miss has grown to a doctoral degree-granting university with 15 academic divisions and nearly 24,000 students. In all, more than 100 programs of study today offer superior academic experiences that provide each graduate with the background necessary for a lifetime of scholastic, social and professional growth.

Read more on University of Mississippi history, tradition and symbols of heraldry and view banners.

Primary Sidebar

  • 2020 Awards & Honors
  • Registrar
  • Bookstore
  • Photo Gallery
  • The Grove
  • Ford Center
  • Previous Ceremonies
Ole Miss logo
Enroll at the University of Mississippi and discover your future!
Copyright © University Communications 2016. All Rights Reserved.
EEO Statement Give Us Your Feedback Accessibility Ethics Line UM Creed