Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) was founded in 1987 by appropriations from the Mississippi Legislature and was the fourth public, residential high school for academically gifted students created in the United States [REF].
Starting in 2008, the Mississippi Legislature required MSMS and its sister school, the Mississippi School of the Arts, to charge students $500 per semester for room and board costs, making them the only public schools in the state that charge students to attend.