Graphic by Alli Moore
The University of Mississippi was named among the fastest growing public doctoral institutions in the nation as well as being the “top fundraiser” and having the largest endowment in Mississippi.
The Chronicle of Higher Education released the Almanac of Higher Education 2014 in August, recording The University of Mississippi as the 13th fastest growing public doctoral institution in the nation.
“Most schools across the country last year saw enrollment flat or down,” said Tom Eppes, chief communications officer at University Communications. “So, for Ole Miss to be growing at the rate that it’s growing is pretty extraordinary.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the university’s enrollment increased 43.1 percent from 2002 to 2012.
Eppes stated that this increase is impressive considering that the projected high school graduate market peaked in 2010 and isn’t expected to grow until 2020.
“What that means is that there’s going to be a bigger battle between universities for the same sized pie,” Eppes said. “Some people are going to grow in that environment, and some people are going to decline, but it’s not going to be able to stay the same. Not everyone’s going to be able to grow.”
Eppes said if you look back for a number of years at the quality of professors and their training, the great jobs people have gone on to after graduating from this university and a long history of delivering that kind of education, this new ranking is a result of the reputation the university has built.
“I think rather than growth affecting reputation, I think the reputation is affecting the growth,” Eppes said. “One of the things we found in a national study that we did last year is this university is thought of very highly nationwide for academic excellence.”
Eppes said even though this growth is positive, as the student population rises, the opportunity for small, personal classrooms decrease. Eppes explained that if the university allowed growth to get to the point that it cannot produce the same quality of education, it would be sabotaging itself, and to place a ceiling on the number of students admitted would damage the revenue capability of the university.
“The reason that we are popular with prospective students is because the excellence is here. The quality is here,” Eppes said.
Formerly, the majority of revenue for public state institutions came from the state itself. For Ole Miss, it was more than 50 percent of the revenue. That declined last year to being around 15 percent.
“Now, the greatest volume of revenue we get to support the university is coming from tuition. The only way to keep up is to increase tuition or increase the number of students who are coming to the university. To try to keep rates low, you have to grow at a certain rate,” Eppes said.
Eppes said the university has done well in keeping tuition down amidst funding and revenue changes.
“If you try to walk this very fine line to balance quality and price – which is what equals value – we’re doing a pretty good job,” Eppes said.
Also named in the Almanac was the university’s status as top fundraiser and holder of the largest endowment in the state. This funding, Eppes said, helps to retain the professors that make a difference and allow the academic programs at the university to excel.
Supplementing salaries is not the only function of donations, however. Katie Morrison, communications specialist at the UM Foundation, said private donors choose where their money goes when they give to the university.
Currently, 38 percent goes to academic and program support, 20.4 percent goes to faculty support, 4.4 percent goes to library support and 37.2 percent to scholarship support. Morrison said donations for 2014 amounted to $118 million, a decrease from 2012’s donation of $122.6 million.
The National Association of College and University and Business Officers collected the data used to determine the university as having the largest endowment in Mississippi. The university’s endowment increased from 461,913 in 2012 to 520,216 for the 2013 fiscal year. This was followed by Mississippi State University, which topped at 394,925, and Millsaps College at 110,456.
Eppes said this continuous support results from the alumni and their commitment to the university.
“One of the wonderful things about universities like ours is that we have a very loyal alumni base,” Eppes said. “They leave this place and love it so strongly that when they get to the point that they have the means to give back, they’re doing it and on an extraordinary level.”
