Test policy · 50 states · Mississippi

Do Mississippi's public universities require the SAT or ACT in 2026?

As of October 2026: No. All 3 Mississippi public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Mississippi State University and University of Southern Mississippi).

Mississippi's Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) sets a statewide sliding-scale floor: a 3.20+ GPA lets a first-year applicant skip the ACT/SAT entirely, while a lower GPA requires a qualifying ACT/SAT score. All three IHL universities checked (Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and University of Southern Mississippi) follow this same GPA-based structure for residents; Mississippi State goes further and drops the test requirement at any GPA of 2.0+, while Ole Miss and USM both use the straight 3.2-GPA-no-test pathway. Homeschooled applicants at every campus checked must still submit a test score regardless of GPA.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The statewide rule

Test-optional. Set by Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), covering first-year applicants to all eight IHL public universities.

“have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 ... and no ACT or SAT score is required; or ... a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 ... and have an ACT composite score of 16 or higher; or ... GPA of 2.00 ... and ... ACT Composite score of 18 or higher.” — mississippi.edu

This is a statewide minimum-admission floor, not a free choice: applicants with a 3.20+ unweighted GPA (and completed College Preparatory Curriculum) need no test score; applicants with a 2.50-3.19 GPA (or top-50% class rank) need an ACT composite of 16+ (or SAT equivalent); applicants with a 2.00-2.49 GPA need an ACT of 18+. Below 2.00 GPA, NCAA Division I 'full qualifier'/'academic redshirt' standards can substitute. IHL explicitly allows 'admitting institutions may establish additional admission requirements,' which is why individual campuses diverge (see University of Southern Mississippi below). Scores are superscored (ACT-to-ACT or SAT-to-SAT only) since fall 2021.

University by university

The flagship and the state's largest public universities. Each label comes from the university's own admissions page, quoted; "applies to" is the entering term the page names. 0 required · 3 test-optional · 0 test-blind.

University	SAT / ACT	Applies to	CLT	Source
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Flagship Oxford Follows the IHL sliding scale essentially verbatim for residents: 3.2+ GPA needs no test; 2.5-3.19 GPA (or top-50% rank) needs ACT 16+; 2.0-2.49 GPA needs ACT 18+. For non-residents, the test is explicitly 'Optional for students with 3.2 unweighted cumulative GPA or higher' and 'Strongly recommended for students with less than a 3.2 unweighted cumulative GPA' -- i.e. not strictly mandatory even below 3.2 for non-residents. Homeschooled applicants and non-accredited-high-school applicants must submit ACT/SAT scores regardless of GPA.	Test-optional	fall 2027 freshman applicants, Mississippi residents and non-residents	—	“have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 grading scale ... Mississippi residents are admitted based on meeting one of the following criteria” olemiss.edu
Mississippi State University Starkville More permissive than the bare IHL floor: admission is granted to Mississippi residents with the required College Preparatory Curriculum plus just a 2.0 GPA (no test score needed at any GPA level, not only at 3.2+). Students who skip testing are instead reviewed using high school performance, placement testing, and other non-cognitive factors. Scores are still encouraged for merit scholarships. Homeschooled applicants are told to submit ACT/SAT scores with their portfolio.	Test-optional	freshman applicants (page last updated September 29, 2026)	—	“Do I need an ACT or SAT score to apply to Mississippi State? No. Mississippi State offers a test-optional admissions process for freshman applicants.” admissions.msstate.edu
University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg CORRECTED after full re-read of USM's own admissions page: USM follows the same three-pathway IHL sliding scale as Ole Miss and Mississippi State -- a 3.2+ GPA pathway requires no ACT/SAT ('and no ACT or SAT is required'); a 2.5 GPA (or top-50% class rank) pathway needs ACT 16+/SAT equivalent; a 2.0 GPA pathway needs ACT 18+. The original draft mischaracterized USM as requiring a test score from every freshman applicant; that was wrong -- the GPA-waiver pathway is explicitly stated on USM's own page under 'Full Admission for First-Time Undergraduates.' Homeschooled applicants and applicants without a standard high school diploma must still submit ACT/SAT scores regardless of GPA. Writing sections of the ACT/SAT are not used in evaluation.	Test-optional	freshman (first-time) applicants	—	“have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 grading scale ... and no ACT or SAT is required” usm.edu

What this means for your family

Optional describes the checkbox, not the outcome. At test-optional colleges that publish both numbers, students who sent a score were admitted at a higher rate than students who did not, and 115 colleges nationally still require one. Take a free mock SAT and a free mock ACT, prepare for the whole test over 6 to 12 weeks, and decide college by college whether to send the score.

How much a score moves with preparation, by starting score: Test Prep Gurus results. The submit-or-withhold arithmetic: Do test scores still matter?

At a glance

JSON (all states) · For AI agents

As of October 2026: No. All 3 Mississippi public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Mississippi State University and University of Southern Mississippi).

Statewide rule: Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) — test-optional, first-year applicants to all eight IHL public universities.

University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), the flagship, is test-optional for fall 2027 freshman applicants, Mississippi residents and non-residents.

Checked against each university's own admissions page, October 2026. Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).

Questions families ask

Is Mississippi test-optional for its public universities in 2026? No. All 3 Mississippi public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Mississippi State University and University of Southern Mississippi).

Does University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) require the SAT or ACT in 2026? Test-optional for fall 2027 freshman applicants, Mississippi residents and non-residents. Follows the IHL sliding scale essentially verbatim for residents: 3.2+ GPA needs no test; 2.5-3.19 GPA (or top-50% rank) needs ACT 16+; 2.0-2.49 GPA needs ACT 18+. For non-residents, the test is explicitly 'Optional for students with 3.2 unweighted cumulative GPA or higher' and 'Strongly recommended for students with less than a 3.2 unweighted cumulative GPA' -- i.e. not strictly mandatory even below 3.2 for non-residents. Homeschooled applicants and non-accredited-high-school applicants must submit ACT/SAT scores regardless of GPA. Source: olemiss.edu.

Should my child take the SAT or ACT if Mississippi's public universities do not require it? Yes. Most families apply to colleges in more than one state, 115 four-year colleges nationally require a score, and at test-optional colleges students who submit a score are admitted at higher rates than students who do not. A strong score also opens merit scholarships. Start with a free mock SAT and a free mock ACT, prepare for the whole test over 6 to 12 weeks, and decide college by college whether to send it.

Method: for each state, the flagship and the public universities with roughly 8,000 or more undergraduates. Each policy label was read from the university's own first-year admissions page (or the state or system regulation), quoted verbatim, and re-checked by a second pass, October 2026. "Required" means a score is required of most first-year applicants (exemptions in the notes); "test-optional" means a score is considered if sent; "test-blind" means a score is not considered even if sent. Community colleges and private colleges are not covered. Policies change: the page carries the term each page named, and the report is refreshed each October.

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