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Money Magazine Salutes Mississippi College Scholarships


Mississippi College

Scholarships paved the way for Mississippi College junior Cameron Machen to leave home in the Bayou State and pursue a Christian studies degree on the Clinton campus.

“It makes a huge difference,” says Machen, 21, of Tallulah, Louisiana. He estimates his MC scholarships exceed $6,000 annually. “MC was pretty much the school I wanted to go to. But this made it easier to come.”

Students like Cameron, a future youth minister, join school administrators supporting the 2015 rankings by “Money” magazine that applaud the affordability of the Baptist-affiliated university.

On its new list of 665 of the magazine’s “Best Colleges,” Mississippi College ranks No. 6 nationwide because these schools “typically cost the least.”

“Money” magazine sized up 18 different factors before narrowing its list to 665 “Best Colleges,” and MC overall ranked at No. 235 nationwide.

Mississippi College is also ranked 12th among America’s 20 best colleges for merit-based scholarships, the magazine reports in its January/February issue. “Money” says 38 percent of the MC students receive merit-based aid, with the average award $6,900. That amounts to 46 percent of the university’s tuition charges per year.

President Lee Royce trumpets the upbeat news he received at his Nelson Office on Wednesday.

“We are delighted Mississippi College received positive recognition,” when it comes to merit-based scholarships, Royce said. “With college costs rising nationwide, MC is committed to keeping its doors open to students.”

The “Money” rankings, he said, “speak to our longstanding approach to make higher education affordable.”

Based on their high American College Test scores, freshmen like Kailey Bernius, a chemistry major from Slidell, La., and  Haley Felder of Ruth, Miss., say MC came through with nice scholarships.

“If it was not for these scholarships, I would have gone somewhere else,” Felder said. MC, the nursing student said, is “a good value.”

The listings on money.com and in the magazine are the latest burst of good national news for Mississippi College regarding its affordability.

MC ranked 8th in a survey of America’s 50 most affordable Christian colleges by Christian Universities Online in August.

In September, “U.S. News & World Report” ranked MC No. 4 among the South’s regional universities in its “Great Schools, Great Prices” category.

Asked why she decided to come to Mississippi College, Ashley Chandler, 20, said it was largely due to the scholarships she heard about at a college fair in Florida. When Ashley earns a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, the MC junior from Orlando says she hopes to go into research or become a teacher.

Jim Turcotte,  vice president for enrollment services and dean of students, was pleased to see that “Money” magazine considers MC among 20 “generous” USA schools that help trim tuition bills.

Said Turcotte: “Mississippi College is committed to provide a high quality academic program at an affordable price.”

For more information, go to money.com and look for its “Best Colleges” report in January.