The Mississippi Department of Education announced on Tuesday that 48 Mississippi high schools received a prestigious 2021 College Success Award recognition from GreatSchools.org for excelling at preparing students to enroll and succeed in college as determined by available data in each state.

Among the schools recognized is Oxford High School, which received a seven out of ten in the GreatSchools composite rating.

Oxford was also one of 30 schools in the state to receive a gold-level College Success Award. It is their third consecutive year receiving the award.

GreatSchools.org is the nation’s leading nonprofit providing school information to parents and families and has conducted the College Success Award annually since 2018.

Mississippi schools recognized for 2021 are among 1,838 high schools from 25 states that demonstrated a successful track record of graduating students who enroll in two- or four-year college, are ready for college-level coursework, and persist on to their second year. School, district and state education leaders in these 25 states were undeterred by the pandemic’s challenges and provided the critical data transparency needed to help communities understand paths to success from high school to college.

The College Success Award is possible because Mississippi is among states leading the nation in both collecting and transparently sharing information on how students perform after high school, which is valuable information for families, educators and policymakers.

“We applaud Mississippi schools for prioritizing high-quality public education, putting students on the path to bright futures,” said Jon Deane, CEO of GreatSchools.org. “Over the past two years, students, parents, teachers and communities have relied on one another like never before. We congratulate and thank everyone for their unwavering pursuit of college success for all students.”