Located in historic downtown Columbus and established in 1884, Mississippi University for Women was the first public college for women in America. Originally known as the Industrial Institute and College, the name was changed to Mississippi State College for Women in 1920 and was changed again in 1974 to MUW and is affectionately referred to as "the W".

In 1982 the U. S. Supreme Court ordered the university to admit a male student. Following this historic decision the university had to change its policies to allow the admission of qualified males into all university programs.

Mississippi University for Women has a proud heritage of achievement and a campus of major historical and architectural significance -- there are 24 buildings on the campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1920 the university has been among the top 30 universities in the Southeast for the number of women undergraduates who go on to earn doctorates. In 1991 MUW was selected as one of 20 model colleges in the nation for exemplary practice in undergraduate education.