Out-of-State Students Now Outnumber Those from Mississippi

Mary Liz Cronk

Interviewer: Kat Crawford

Over the past couple of years, the out-of-state student population at Ole Miss has grown to a percentage higher than ever.

This increase can be related to the relatively low cost of attendance and admission requirements in comparison to those of other public universities, along with the charm of living in the small city of Oxford.

Sophomore Kat Crawford, a journalism major from the big city of Atlanta, Georgia, is one of many students that chose Ole Miss over her state school because of the desire to do something different.

“I have lived in the same big city my entire life,” Crawford said. “I wanted to experience something different, rather than follow the paths of my friends back home.”

After visiting the university for the first time, Crawford discovered that Ole Miss had many distinctive features that could not be found in other schools. “After touring Oxford one weekend, I immediately feel in love with the square, the grove, the people, and the pretty campus,” Crawford said. "I could definitely see myself living this town."

For Crawford, as it is for many out-of-state students, she found it hard getting used to Oxford during the first couple months of freshman year. “Coming from a large city, where I grew up with all of my childhood friends, to a small city where I only knew 5 people, made the change a bit of an adjustment,” Crawford said.

Although the change wasn’t easy, Crawford has grown to love Ole Miss just as much as she loves her hometown.

As the number of out-of-state students continues to increase, it is inevitable that the university will see a rise in campus diversity in the years to come.