Mississippi State's athletics program is fully certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The group's Committee on Athletics Certification announced in May that the university has been fully certified following a review of athletics gender-equity and minority-opportunities plans adopted in December 1998.

Mississippi State was awarded certification with conditions last fall pending further development of the plans. The initial certification decision followed a yearlong self-study by the university and evaluation by a peer review team.

Athletics certification was approved for Division I institutions in 1993 as a way of evaluating strengths of individual athletics programs and identifying areas for improvement.

All 310 Division I members will undergo the process by 2000. The possible classification levels are "certified," "certified with conditions," and "not certified." So far, 260 institutions have received certification decisions.

"We are proud of the plans we have developed and the progress Mississippi State has made in the areas of gender equity and minority opportunities, said Director of Athletics Larry Templeton.

Current MSU women's sports include basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and cross country, soccer, and softball.