Belhaven University

Private · Selective · MS

Photo: Michael Barera (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMS · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads1,471

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate37.9%

6-yr grad rate48.5%

Drop-out rate32.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$30k

Out-of-state tuition$30k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity64.2%

Gender diversity63.4%

International1.6%

IdentityPresbyterian Church (USA)

Overview

Belhaven University, a Christian liberal-arts institution in Jackson, Mississippi, is distinctive for treating the arts as central to a Christian education rather than peripheral to it — one of very few Christian universities with accreditation spanning music, theatre, dance, and visual art together. Its Presbyterian roots show up in an explicit values framework woven across every major, not just religion courses, and the university has grown well beyond its Jackson base through a network of adult and graduate program campuses across the South.

Academics

The arts programs are the clear differentiator, offering a level of formal accreditation and studio and performance training that's unusual among faith-based schools of this size — dance, theatre, music, and visual art all carry specialized national accreditation, not just general university accreditation. Business and education programs round out the traditional undergraduate curriculum, while a separate network of adult and online campuses in cities like Memphis, Chattanooga, and Orlando extends degree access to working adults well beyond the main Jackson campus and its traditional-age students.

Campus & student life

Campus culture centers on an active Christian community, with the arts emphasis visible in regular performances, exhibitions, and studio life alongside the more typical residential college rhythms of chapel and small-group faith programming. Athletics compete at the NAIA level as the Blazers. The Jackson setting gives arts students real access to a mid-sized Southern city's cultural scene, beyond what campus alone offers a small student body.

Getting in

Belhaven looks for students who want serious arts training within an explicitly Christian framework, and arts applicants can expect auditions or portfolio review alongside the standard academic application — this matters more here than at a typical Christian liberal-arts college, since the arts programs carry real technical admission standards of their own. Fit with the university's faith mission is weighed alongside academic and artistic preparation.

After graduation

Arts graduates move into performance, teaching, church and worship ministry, and creative industry roles, aided by the unusual breadth of accredited training few similarly sized Christian universities offer. Business and education graduates tend to place regionally in Mississippi and the broader South, often within denominational or faith-affiliated institutions.

Worth knowing

The breadth of arts accreditation — music, theatre, dance, and visual art together — is genuinely uncommon among Christian universities and is the main reason to consider Belhaven specifically over a similarly sized faith-based school. Its adult-education campuses elsewhere in the South serve a very different, older student population than the Jackson undergraduate campus.

belhaven.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate49.8%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1010–1298 · ACT 19–24

Test policyoptional

Rec letters—

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying