Alcorn State University Alcorn State University is a historically black comprehensive land - grant institution in Lorman , Mississippi . It was founded in 1871 by the Reconstruction era legislature to provide higher education for freedmen . It was the first black land grant college in the United States . The university is counted as a census - designated place and had a resident population of 1 , 017 at the 2010 census . Medgar Evers , a civil rights activist , graduated in 1948 from here . Students at the college were part of the mid - twentieth century civil rights struggle , working to register residents for voting and struggling to end segregation . Other alumni have been activists , politicians and professionals in Mississippi and other states . The University is a member - school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund . History . Alcorn State University was founded on the site originally occupied by Oakland College , a school for whites established by the Presbyterian Church . Oakland College closed its doors at the beginning of the American Civil War so that its students could fight for the Confederate States of America . When the college failed to reopen at the end of the war , the property was sold to the state of Mississippi . It renamed the facility Alcorn University in honor of James L . Alcorn in 1871 , then the state ' s governor , and established it as a historically black college . Hiram R . Revels resigned his seat in the United States Senate to become Alcorn ' s first president . The state legislature provided $ 50 , 000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college . The state also granted Alcorn three - fifths of the proceeds earned from the sale of of land scrip for agricultural colleges . The land was sold for $ 188 , 928 with Alcorn receiving a share of $ 113 , 400 . This money was to be used solely for the agricultural and mechanical components of the college . From its beginning , Alcorn State University was a land - grant college . In 1878 , the name Alcorn University was changed to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College . The university ' s original of land have grown to become a campus . The goals for the college set by the Mississippi legislature clearly emphasized training rather than education . The school , like other black schools during these years , was less a college than a vocational school intended to prepare students for the agricultural economy of the state and most of their hometowns . At first the school was exclusively for black males but in 1895 women were admitted . Today , women outnumber men at the university eighteen hundred to twelve hundred . In 1974 Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became Alcorn State University . Governor William L . Waller signed House Bill 298 granting university status to Alcorn and the other state supported colleges . Alcorn had already become a more diversified university . It provides an undergraduate education that enables students to continue their work in graduate and professional schools , engage in teaching , and enter other professions . It also provides graduate education to equip students for further training in specialized fields . Alcorn began with eight faculty members in 1871 . Today the faculty and staff number more than 500 . The student body has grown from 179 mostly local male students to more than 4 , 000 students from all over the world . While early graduates of Alcorn had limited horizons , more recent alumni are successful physicians , lawyers , pharmacists , dentists , educators , administrators , managers , and entrepreneurs . Alcorn has had eighteen presidents , with Dr . M . Christopher Brown II becoming the eighteenth president in 2011 . Alcorn State is now fully accredited , with seven schools and degree programs in more than fifty areas , including a nursing program . The facilities have increased from three historic buildings to approximately 80 modern structures with an approximate value of $ 71 million . Academics . The university enrolls over 2 , 500 full - time and 348 part - time undergraduate students and 600 graduate students . Women outnumber men in a ratio 3 : 2 . Organization The university is made up of seven schools , offering over 50 different fields of study . Honors Program . The Honors Program is an option for students who wish to further enhance their academic experience and leadership roles . MBA Program . Alcorn State University offers a general MBA program through its Natchez campus . Most classes are conducted in evening to accommodate its working executive students . Over last few years the MBA program has been very popular with international students , in fact a high percentage of international students at Alcorn State University are enrolled in its MBA program . Global Programs . Besides coordinating study - abroad opportunities , Global Programs brings worldwide perspectives to campus through exchange programs and special events . Pre - Professional Programs . Alcorn offers Pre - Professional Programs to prepare students for a transition to specialized studies in the fields of law , engineering , nursing , physical therapy , pharmacy and dentistry . Accreditation . Alcorn State University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Associate , Bachelor ‘ s , Master ‘ s , and Specialist in Education degrees . Alcorn ‘ s teacher education program is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education . The Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics is accredited by the American Dietetics Association . The Associate of Science in Nursing degree , the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree , and the Master of Science in Nursing degree programs are accredited by the National League for Nursing Accreditating Commission . Alcorn State University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music , the National Association of Industrial Technology and the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences . Locations . The main campus is located near Lorman , Mississippi , while the Nursing School and the Business School ' s Master of Business Administration ( MBA ) program is located in Natchez , Mississippi . There is also a Vicksburg , Mississippi site . Main campus . The main campus is located in rural southwestern Mississippi , south of Vicksburg , north of Natchez , and southwest of Jackson . As of 1994 the closest hotels and / or restaurants to the Alcorn campus are from campus , along U . S . Highway 61 . Male residence halls include Medgar Wiley Evers Heritage Village Complex and Hiram Revels Hall . Female residence halls include Medgar Wiley Evers Heritage Village Complex buildings A and B , John Burrus Hall , and the Female Honors Residence Hall . Recent Campus Additions include : Current and planned construction projects include : Other locations . The Natchez Campus Residence Hall , completed in 1998 , is the residence hall of the Natchez campus . It includes three buildings , with a commons building , a male residence hall building , and a female residence hall building . The complex includes the Student Nursing Hall , which houses Alcorn State students and Copiah - Lincoln Community College ( Co - Lin ) students . Athletics . Jay Searcy of the " Philadelphia Inquirer " wrote in 1994 that Alcorn had " a gritty football team that has sent 68 players to the National Football League . . . " , an achievement for a small school in a rural area of Mississippi . His article was chiefly about Steve McNair , who is among those numerous players to have gone on to professional football careers .