Contact: Harriet Laird

STARKVILLE, Miss.—The Spring 2021 academic calendar for Mississippi State has been modified, starting the semester on time but ending it sooner as the university continues health and safety measures in response to COVID-19.

A condensed Spring 2021 semester follows a similar approach taken this fall and meets the instructional time requirements mandated by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.

Classes begin Jan. 6 and end April 19, and spring break has been eliminated due to the pandemic. This will allow the semester to end a week earlier than originally planned. However, in response to an MSU Student Association resolution requesting the Monday after Easter as a day to spend time with family, no classes will be held on April 5. In addition, MSU will be closed to observe state holidays Jan. 18 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the Friday before Easter, April 2. MSU-Meridian commencement will be held on April 29 and the Starkville campus ceremony on April 30.

David Shaw, MSU provost and executive vice president, said these changes build on the success the university is seeing this semester in minimizing risks associated with the pandemic.

“These modifications help us continue to protect our students and employees while holding a full semester of teaching and learning,” Shaw said.

Other important calendar dates include:

—Feb. 25, Semester midpoint

—April 19, Final day to apply for April 2021 graduation

—April 22-28, Final exams

Shaw said, “Ending the semester a week earlier than usual hopefully will give students added time to consider enrolling in a Maymester course and summer school, and planning for co-op experiences, summer work, or making up other opportunities lost to the pandemic this past year.”

For more dates on the MSU academic calendar for Spring 2021, visit https://www.registrar.msstate.edu/calendars/academic-calendar/c/?year[value][year]=2021&semester=spring

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.