University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi is a public, comprehensive, research institution. As the oldest public institution of higher learning in the state and as a Carnegie Research University (high research activity), the institution’s primary functions are the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge through a variety of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and public service activities. The university's main campus at Oxford emphasizes a traditional, residential educational experience, with a central College of Liberal Arts and eight professional schools. In 2008, Forbes ranked UM 23^rd among public universities in the United States, and, in 2011, Newsweek ranked our campus as the most beautiful in the nation. The town of Oxford, located in northern Mississippi near Memphis, has 19,000 residents and boasts public schools ranked in the top 100 by Offspring magazine. Oxford was cited by the Washington Post as "cosmopolitan, sophisticated, even trendy," and by USA Today as one of the top six college towns in the nation.