Millsaps College had an enrollment of 1,000-1,200 students in the 1990s and that’s what the current president would like to see again.
“It was built for that type of community,” said Frank Neville, who became the 12th president of the college in June. “I think that’s the size of the community that was dynamic and flourishing and something we need to return to.”
The college, which sits on 100 acres in the center of Jackson and dates to 1890, currently has enrollment of 600 students, 550 of which are undergraduates and 50 graduate students, he said. It employs 73 full-time faculty members and 138 full-time staff members.
The rising costs of college tuition, a pushback against student debt and job opportunities that don’t require a college education and pay better than they did in the past have affected enrollment at many colleges and universities nationwide. Millsaps has also had to contend with the Jackson’s water crisis, which is under control.
Neville, who describes his work as president as “creating a vision, building alignment and managing it and implementation,” isn’t deterred by the challenges that face higher education.
Efforts are under way to market Millsaps to students who desire an experience where most of the student body lives on campus all four years, classes are small in size so it’s difficult for a shy student to be overlooked during discussion and professors actually get to know the students they teach.
“We’re serving a particular student, the student who wants to go to med school, go to law school or run a business,” Neville said. “If you’re that type of student then this is the place where the investment in your education has a significant return.”
The enrollment process is being re-organized to be more responsive to students who need help, communication is being improved with students who have been admitted and plans are in place to improve the retention rate among current students, he said.
Last year, 800 applications to attend Millsaps were not completely filled out for various reasons, Neville said. If those applications had been completed and students from that pool had been admitted at the typical rate that would have possibly yielded another 65 students, which would have been an increase in 30 percent over the class that was brought in this fall, he said.
Efforts are also under way to communicate with students who have been admitted so they are engaged quickly and on a personal level about the interests they expressed during the application process.
“If someone wants to come here to be pre-med, one of the historically strong programs, having pre-med students or an alum in med school reach out to that student or a
faculty member in that program reach out and talk to them about the value that Millsaps has provided to them is one thing we have done,” Neville said.
New marketing efforts flow from the conclusion that Millsaps is for students who want a unique experience, students who don’t feel compelled to follow the crowd and who want to chart their own path, Neville said.
The tagline ‘Be Something Major,’ a nod to the college teams known as the Majors appears on advertisements.
Advertisements are built around several types of students, including one that is a “leader profile, a student who isn’t necessarily compelled to follow others and is thinking independently,” and another that is a “doer profile, which as it was explained to me by someone who works in higher ed, as those kids who eat their spinach, the student who is willing and eager to put in the work because he recognizes the benefit of doing so,” Neville said.
The information conveyed to prospective students is about the rigor and transformative learning experience the college provides, he said.
“If you leave any educational experience seeing the world the same way then you didn’t learn anything,” Neville said. “Learning is taking new information, a new perspective and applying it to what you know and advancing your understanding. That means you have to be open to change and change, as we know from cognitive psychology, is something that has to be forced on the brain. The educational experience needs to have that transformational element to trigger that change.”
Heavily subsidized public universities can offer larger scholarships to students than Millsaps, but Millsaps offers a higher return on investment, Neville said. Ten years after college, Millsaps graduates have the highest average salary from any four-year college or university in Mississippi, according to the college.
Neville believes Milsaps cannot and should not try to be all things for all students.
“If somebody wants a big college experience, large classes and being a face in the crowd, then that’s a good model,” he said. “If you want a personalized experience, small classes and being able to have a great and personalized recommendation when you apply to law school or medical school or business school because you have formed relationships with faculty over four years, then this is the place.”
While few students pay the “sticker price” shown in a college catalog because of institutional and federal financial aid, many students do take the costs into consideration.
For the 2024-2025 academic year, tuition for a full-time student at Millsaps is $41,750 for the year compared to $9,252 for the year at the University of Mississippi. Additional costs include housing, food, books and supplies plus activities fees and capital improvements fees.
About 40 percent of Millsaps students are eligible for Pell Grants, which is the largest federal grant program offered to undergraduates and is designed to assist students from low-income households.
“For our scholarship program through the generosity of our board of trustees and donors, we’ve been able to be accessible for students who are (federal) Pell Grant-eligible and sit at the bottom of the income bracket,” he said. “Millsaps is ranked 14th among colleges and universities nationwide for its percentage of Pell-eligible students.”
Neville, a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, who earned his MBA from Arizona State’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and is currently a Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, has had a varied career.
He was a diplomat with the U.S. State Department for 15 years, with nine years in China, three years in Central American and a year and half on the U.S.-Mexico border. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin.
Before being named president, Neville worked as the senior vice president of strategic initiatives and chief of staff at the Georgia Institute of Technology and before that served as chief of staff at George Mason University and was concurrently vice president of communications and marketing for the latter two years of his tenure. Prior to George Mason, Neville was the vice president of global communications and public affairs at the Thunderbird School.
Because of all those experiences, Neville said he is used to grasping new concepts quickly and being adaptable.
“As a diplomat, one day I was dealing with immigration issues and the next day, nuclear proliferation,” he said. “I had to learn quickly about something new on a regular basis.”
Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech, provided insight into Neville’s personality when he spoke during the inauguration, which was in the Bowl on Oct. 12. Neville, who considers Cabrera a mentor, followed him from the Thunderbird School to George Mason to Georgia Tech.
“When you really get to know him, you find out what his true superpowers are,” said Cabrera, who described how Neville oversaw covid testing at Georgia Tech and built concensus during a difficult and uncertain time. “Among them is the ability to bring people together and listen to them, not just to appear to be listening but to truly listen to them.”
He went on to say that Neville is a doer and doesn’t rest until the job gets done, is an expert in the ins and outs of a university and has a strong moral compass.
“Frank is here because he cares about Millsaps’ mission. He’s here because he sees himself in Millsaps students, because when he looks back, he knows he wouldn’t have had the life he’s had if it weren’t for the time he spent in a place like Millsaps. He’s here because he believes he can make a difference, build on the history of this institution and make it better.”
The installation of Neville was mostly a somber affair with one exception, which was perhaps a first in the history of the installation of a Millsaps president. Neville’s daughter, Hannah, sang a snazzy tune entitled “Major Man,” which she wrote to acknowledge her father and his admiration for the blues and jazz. The lyrics fittingly concluded: “Daddy’s a Major man. Now the world’s gonna see just how major he can be.”
When asked to name a favorite place on campus, Neville said it’s the statue of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, that overlooks the Bowl.
“It’s inspirational,” said the leader of the college that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
“It reminds us of why we’re here.”
The base of the statue is inscribed with John Wesley’s Rule: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
