MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE

private, coeducational institution of higher learning, located in Clinton, Miss., U.S. Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, it is the second oldest Baptist college in the United States and the oldest and largest private college in Mississippi. The college emphasizes a curriculum in the liberal arts. It consists of the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of Business, Education, Graduate Studies, Law, and Nursing. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors, master's degrees in 24 fields, and several preprofessional programs. An engineering program is provided in conjunction with the University of Mississippi and Auburn University. Mississippi College operates an international exchange program with Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Ger. The college has an approximate enrollment of 4,000. Founded as Hampstead Academy in 1826, it was renamed Mississippi Academy in 1827 and became a college in 1830. In 1831 it became the nation's first private college to award a woman a degree. The Presbyterian church purchased the school in 1842, but ensuing financial problems forced its return to the people of Clinton in 1850the same year that ownership passed to the Mississippi Baptist Convention. The Baptist Church disallowed women at Mississippi College but, in 1853, founded the nearby Central Female Institute, which was renamed Hillman College in 1891. In 1942 Mississippi College subsumed Hillman College and again became coeducational. Graduate-level courses were offered from 1950, and the School for Graduate Studies was formed in 1975.