Tougaloo College

Private · Moderately Selective · MS

Photo: 2C2K Photography (CC BY 2.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMS · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads639

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate27.8%

6-yr grad rate33.1%

Drop-out rate16.8%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$12k

Out-of-state tuition$12k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity100%

Gender diversity58.1%

International2.2%

IdentityHBCU · United Church of Christ

Overview

Tougaloo College is a small private historically Black college just outside Jackson, Mississippi. It holds an outsized place in American civil rights history; the campus sheltered movement organizers and Freedom Riders through the 1960s, and that history remains part of the college's identity rather than a distant memory.

Academics

Tougaloo has a long-standing reputation for rigor in the sciences, with a strong record of sending graduates into medical school and other health-professional and graduate science programs; its pre-med pipeline in particular is well regarded relative to the college's size. Faculty mentorship is close given small class sizes.

Campus & student life

The campus is small and set on the edge of Jackson, giving students access to a mid-sized city while keeping a tight-knit residential community. Civil rights history is visible and honored on campus; buildings and sites tied to the movement are part of the everyday backdrop, not confined to a museum.

Getting in

Tougaloo is not highly selective and evaluates applicants holistically, with attention to potential and fit alongside academic record.

After graduation

The college's science and pre-med graduates go on to medical school and graduate programs at rates that outperform what its size and resources might suggest, a point of institutional pride tied to its rigorous science faculty.

Worth knowing

Tougaloo's civil-rights history is a genuine, lived part of the institution's identity; the campus itself was a site of real historical events, which shapes its culture in a way distinct from schools that only teach that history.

tougaloo.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate59.9%

Enrolled mid-50%1040

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying