The Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (MAMP) is a cooperative program among the eight institutions of higher learning in Mississippi. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Institution of Higher Learning and was developed by Mr. Louis Stokes over 10 years ago. The vision is to provide scholarships and other academic support for qualified minority students who seek undergraduate degrees in math, science, engineering, and technology. A major focus of the program is to prepare students for graduate school and fill the national employment need in these career areas. The state-wide program is funded at approximately $1,000,000 per year, which is shared by the eight participating institutions. Each institution also provides both in-kind and cash support. The project is administered by Dr. James Perkins at Jackson State University, with project directors at each of the individual campuses.

MAMP provides additional university orientation, mentoring, and individualized support activities. Also, the MAMP program provides students with a full-time tutorial study hall, the "LSAMP Student Center", where graduate students and scholars are available to tutor undergraduates in math and science free of charge. Also, the MAMP program sends several students to each year's meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Science, annual statewide meetings, and to other meetings as funds are available.

MAMP scholars are required to participate in the student organization "IMAGE" (Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education). The group mission is to conduct professional workshops to help students prepare for graduate school and the workforce as well as promoting fellowship on campus, outreach work in area high schools, and giving back to the community by visiting senior citizens and disadvantage youth.

Although the minimum GPA of 3.00 is one of the requirements of the scholarship, today's scholars have GPAs that range up to 3.80 or more. Such an increase of overall GPAs over the past 6 years is a reflection of the quality of students who participate in the program and how the alliance is working throughout the state.