Can Millsaps turn tide on declining enrollment? See the numbers

This could be one of the most important summers in the history of Millsaps College.

The private liberal arts school in midtown Jackson has struggled in recent years with enrollment. So, as the May 1 student deposit deadline has passed, officials at the school are hopeful there will be an uptick in enrollment by the fall.

Millsaps has seen enrollment numbers drop from a high of around 1,200 students in the 1900s to 850 in 2019. In the fall of 2023, there were around 160 freshmen that enrolled, and according to U.S. News data, Millsaps had 637 undergraduate students as of 2022.

In the wake of the much-publicized financial crises faced by Birmingham-Southern College, which will be shutting its doors at the end of this semester, enrollment at small, liberal arts schools has come under more scrutiny.

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Millsaps, however, has not released its May 1 numbers.

"The May 1 deadline doesn’t mean what it has in recent years, mostly because of the difficulties with the FASFA process this year," said Joey Lee, director of communications and community engagement at Millsaps. "Nearly all colleges have extended their response deadlines, including Millsaps. It’s too early to get a good read on enrollment projections for the fall as students have just now started receiving their full financial aid packages."

Meanwhile, just down the street, Belhaven University released its numbers following the May 1 student deposit deadline. Belhaven says it has 290 deposits for traditional freshman students for the fall of 2024. That number is 43 students above its five-year average of 247 students. The school is also slightly ahead of its highest May deposit years of 289 and 285 respectively, according to Kevin Russell, Belhaven's vice president for university enrollment and marketing.

Despite not having specific numbers, Lee said Millsaps officials are optimistic.

"I said all that, but I can also tell you that, early returns suggest that we could have a stronger class coming this fall than we have in the previous few years, and we’re really excited about the caliber of applicants we’ve received," Lee said. "Right now, our deposited student rate is up 10% over this time last year. We expect that number to rise significantly as more students and families are able to navigate the FAFSA process and obtain confirmation of their financial aid."

Among the private liberal arts schools in the state, Millsaps is a standout. The institution was founded in 1890 by Maj. Reuben Webster Millsaps after returning home from the Civil War.

Since then, Millsaps has become one of the state’s most notable private liberal arts colleges. According to the U.S. News and World Report's 2024 rankings, the college leads the state as the top liberal arts college.

Part of Millsaps' commitment is focused on securing financial support. In 2021, the last published data, Millsaps end-of-year endowment balance was roughly $98.5 million.

Frank Neville was named the school's 12th president in January by the Millsaps College Board of Trustees. However, he has yet to make any public comments before he officially takes office in June.

Neville was selected by the 17-member search committee, which consisted of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and students. He steps into a situation at Millsaps having the challenge of turning around a declining student population.

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Millsaps hopes to change plummeting enrollment