The University of Southern Mississippi

You don't have to be a belle to attend Southern Miss, but it never hurts. The University of Southern Mississippi (USM or Southern Miss for short) was established by the state legislature in 1910 to educate Mississippi's teachers. The school has grown to boast an enrollment of nearly 15,000 students with a student-teacher ratio of 18:1. USM offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and post-master's degrees through five colleges: College of Arts and Letters, College of Business, College of Education and Psychology, College of Health, and College of Science and Technology. Southern Miss also runs an Honors College and engages in extensive research in a range of disciplines including health and technology.