University Of Southern Mississippi

Coordinates: 31°19′47″N 89°20′02″W / 31.329638°N 89.333847°W / 31.329638; -89.333847

The University of Southern Mississippi, known informally as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated 70 miles (110 km) north of Gulfport, Mississippi and 105 miles (169 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. Southern Miss is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees. The university is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a "Research University" with "High Research Activity" (designation "RU/H").

Founded on March 30, 1910, the university is a dual campus institution, with the main campus located in Hattiesburg and the Gulf Coast campus located in Long Beach. Other teaching sites include the Stennis Space Center, Keesler Air Force Base, and the Gulf Coast Research Lab.

The university has a particularly extensive "study abroad" program through its Center for International Education, and is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the nation for the number of students studying abroad each year. It is especially noted for its flagship British Studies program, which regularly sends more than 200 students each summer to live and study in the heart of London. The university is also home to a major polymer science research center, and one of the strongest fine arts programs in the southeastern United States.

Originally called the Mississippi Southerners, the Southern Miss athletic teams became the Golden Eagles in 1972. The school’s colors, black and gold, were selected by a student body vote shortly after the school was founded, and while mascots, names, customs, and the campus have changed, the black and gold colors have remained constant.

* Description and images provided by Wikipedia under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license .