The site of these riots, known as the Lyceum-The Circle Historic District, was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the United States Secretary of the Interior on October 7, 2008. The district includes:

Additionally, on April 14, 2010, the University campus was declared a National Historic Site by the Society of Professional Journalists to honor reporters who covered the 1962 riot. One of the two people killed during the riot was a French reporter named Paul Guihard.

The University was chosen to host the first presidential debate of 2008, which was held September 26, 2008. This was the first ever presidential debate to be held in Mississippi.

The degree-granting divisions located at the Main Campus:

The colleges at the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus in Jackson:

University of Mississippi Medical Center surgeons, lead by Dr. James Hardy, performed the world's first human lung transplant, in 1963, and the world's first human heart transplant, in 1964. The heart of a chimpanzee - man's closest genetic relation - was used for the heart transplant.

The University of Mississippi Field Station located in Abbeville is a natural laboratory used to study, research and teach about sustainable freshwater ecosystems.

Since 1968, the school operates the only legal marijuana farm and production facility in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) contracts to the university the production of cannabis for the use in approved research studies on the plant as well as for distribution to the seven surviving medical cannabis patients grandfathered into the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program (established in 1978 and canceled in 1991).

The university houses one of the largest blues music archives in the United States. Some of the contributions to the collection were donated by BB King who donated his entire personal record collection. The Mamie and Ellis Nassour Arts & Entertainment Collection, highlighted by a wealth of theater and film scripts, photographs and memorabilia, was dedicated in September, 2005. The archive includes the first ever commercial blues recording, a song called "Crazy Blues" recorded by Mamie Smith in 1920.