Grenada believes in education
Home to one of Business Week Magazine's top elementary schools in rural America and a multiple national and state award-winning school district, Grenada County offers outstanding educational opportunities. Post-secondary and professional education courses are offered to Grenada residents through Holmes Community College and nine universities located within a 90-mile radius of Grenada. The University of Mississippi offers programs in nursing, education, and business at their Grenada campus, co-located with Holmes Community College. The regional area has over 85,000 students working hard to advance and meet their life goals.
Grenada School District
GSD boasts excellence in academic pursuits, scoring above the state average in ACT scores, standardized testing, and state evaluation initiatives. Students consistently win regional, state, and national science fair competitions, Knowledge Bowl contests, and Reading Fair exhibits. The Public Education Forum of Mississippi has recognized the district's "Walls that Teach" initiative, the "Kidzeum" and the "Discovery Lab" with awards of excellence, and Business Week magazine has acclaimed Grenada Elementary School as one of the country's "Break the Mold" schools. GSD has received three Governor's Awards for a variety of programs that have become examples to follow in Mississippi. The "Kidzeum" and the E-Mail Mentors program have won the Governor's Award for Outstanding Partnerships and the school superintendent has received the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. The "Kidzeum" also received a Magna Award from the American School Board Journal. For nine years, Grenada has been selected to exhibit at the National School Board's "Education Excellence Fair," a display commending superior programs across the country.
Private Schools
Kirk Academy is a K-3 through 12th grade private school offering college preparatory education. Chartered as Grenada Educational Foundation, Kirk Academy offers preschool, elementary school, high school, the A.R. Smithers Library, a gymnasium, two practice football fields, a football stadium, softball complex, baseball complex, and an outdoor classroom with nature trails. Kirk Academy is fully accredited by the Mississippi Private School Association and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Holmes Community College
The Grenada Campus of Holmes Community College offers credit and non-credit post-secondary education in a variety of subjects from liberal arts to business and engineering. Following two years at HCC, students are ready to enter the workforce or to continue their full-time college education in any four-year degree institution. College-level programs in nursing, education, and business also are offered at the University of Mississippi campus co-located at HCC.
HCC works closely with industry to develop and implement career technical and vocational programs that respond to current industry needs and anticipate future industry needs. Technical programs include automotive, business and office technology, electronics, industrial maintenance, manufacturing technology, drafting and design, machine tool technology, welding, and other courses as industry needs evolve. Holmes Community College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Colleges and Universities Serving Grenada
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Located in Oxford, only 40 minutes from Grenada, Ole Miss is a four-year university and research center that holds more than 40 patents for inventions that have been licensed to new or multimillion-dollar companies. Ole Miss ranked 87th in the Forbes.com 2016 ranking of top colleges in the nation. Ole Miss is home to the Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME), a center unique in its educational focus on under-graduate manufacturing education. The CME brings together the schools of Engineering and Business and the College of Liberal Arts, along with major input from manufacturing companies and industry experts, to give students the technical and professional skills needed for a successful career in the manufacturing sector.
University of Mississippi (Grenada Campus)
The University of Mississippi offers four undergraduate degree programs and three graduate degree programs at its north Mississippi regional campus in Grenada. Undergraduate degrees offered include Elementary Education, General Studies, Criminal Justice, and a Bachelor of Business Administration-General Business. Graduate degree programs are Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership K-12 Administration, and Educational Specialist Educational Leadership, K-12 Administration.
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University (MSU) is the state’s most important research university with more than 800 faculty members in 10 colleges and schools. MSU is among the nation’s Top 100 institutions in its external funding for research and development in science and engineering-related fields. MSU is home to the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) and the award-winning Raspet Flight Research Laboratory.
Mississippi Valley State University
Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) is a four-year liberal arts university located 44 miles from Grenada. Named by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s best colleges in the southern region, MVSU provides quality academic and public services programs to approximately 3,000 students.
Delta State University
Delta State University (DSU) is a four-year university located 53 miles from Grenada. DSU's School of Nursing is ranked #1 in College Choice's 2016 TOp 10 Nurse Practitioner programs. In addition to the university's widely-recognized education program, DSU also offers unique programs of study, such as commercial aviation, the Delta Music Institute, and the nationally-recognized Geospatial Information Technology program. More than 4,000 students enroll annually in DSU's undergraduate degree, master's degree, educational specialist degree, and doctoral degree programs.