Brand Platform

The Foundation

At Mississippi State University, we think inclusively and beyond the boundaries, encouraging boldness, imagination and creativity. For decades, we have nurtured leaders, thinkers and problem solvers who are making the world a better place.

And when you exist at the intersection of history and culture and research and vision, there lies within you a desire to make a difference. To improve things. To make life better than it was when you arrived. Asking why. Challenging the status quo. Working with your peers to find better ways that benefit us all.  And you never stop pushing. Beyond boundaries, beyond expectations and beyond yourself.

To make sense of the world, then make it better. Make it brighter. Be driven.


Brand Drivers

> MSU’s history as a diverse, accepting community and its comprehensive educational offerings prepare graduates to solve a wide range of challenges facing the world today.

> Our interdisciplinary approach to discovery and education drives us. It means open collaboration, big thinking across disciplines, and innovation across campus.

> Community plays a huge part in our story – the family feel created through a big university in a small town creates a place like nowhere else on earth.

> There’s a genuine sense of curiosity that is unique to a university of this magnitude – it’s an optimism that allows us to think beyond what’s possible today and deliver results based on a vision for the FUTURE.


Brand Personality
                  Leading
                  > First
                  > Premier
                  > Forward-thinking
We are Mississippi’s leading university, and one of the most prestigious research universities in the nation. We don’t sit back and wait for a problem to arise – we actively seek opportunities to better our state, nation and world.
                  Discover
                  > Innovative
                  > Creative
                  > Curious
MSU’s interdisciplinary approach to discovery and education drives us. It means low barriers to collaboration, big thinking across disciplines, and innovation across campus. There’s a humble sense of curiosity that is unique to a university of this magnitude – it’s an optimism that allows us to think beyond what’s possible today and deliver results based on a vision for the future.


                  Ignite
                  > Encourage
                  > Nurture
                  > Launch
Our history as a diverse, accepting community and our comprehensive educational offerings prepare graduates to solve a wide range of challenges facing the world today.


Positioning Statement
Mississippi State University offers a rich academic, character-building experience that cultivates an environment where excellence is expected, service to our communities is celebrated and we are driven to make a difference.

MSU is a place where the extraordinary happens every day – where people are hard at work making groundbreaking discoveries and developing real-world solutions that have local, national and even global implications.

Mississippi State is one of only a few schools to earn both research and community engagement rankings from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Moreover, the National Science Foundation ranks Mississippi State among the nation’s top 100 research institutions. As the Magnolia State’s leading research university, MSU’s research expenditures totaled $210 million in 2014, accounting for more than half of the total $410 million in research and development expenditures reported by all Mississippi institutions.