Here are the best colleges and universities in Arkansas, categorized into two lists – research universities and liberal arts colleges – to help you find the right kind of school for you.
Colleges and universities in Arkansas are uniquely affordable, with just under half providing tuition rates of $9,000 or less. We’ve also found 7 high quality colleges offering online degree programs in Arkansas.
Indeed, online students can earn their degree at one of the state’s two largest universities, the University of Arkansas or Arkansas State University.
Though students can find some overlapping degree programs at the two schools, each has its specialties. For example, students hoping to pursue degrees in architecture, agriculture, or business may want to consider the University of Arkansas, while those interested in biology, nursing, or political science may want to attend Arkansas State University. It is possible to study these subjects both through traditional and online degree programs in the state of Arkansas.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Roughly one third of the schools in Arkansas have a religious affiliation. Student populations at these schools range from just under 200 students up to 5,000. Both traditional and online students can pursue degrees that merge religious studies with fields like chemistry and history.
Tuition rates at each of the state’s 12 private schools vary greatly. Arkansas’s private colleges and schools cost anywhere between $9,000 and $46,000. Many of these private colleges boast high graduation rates and small class sizes.
Arkansas is perhaps best-known and loved for its countless lakes, Hot Springs National Park, and the United States’ only active diamond mine. However, the Natural State houses many higher education institutes where both traditional and online students can earn associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a full range of disciplines.
With so many affordable schools and competitive on-campus and online degree programs, students attending school in Arkansas have the luxury of combining their individual budget needs with their desired degree paths. For more information on attending school in Arkansas, check out some of the state’s top schools.
Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
We’ve identified 22 colleges and universities in Arkansas that meet our criteria. This list of the top colleges in Arkansas below focuses on schools that offer bachelor’s degrees. The ranking features fully accredited public and private colleges and universities in Arkansas.
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
68%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1210/26
University of Arkansas’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
42%
Student body
7K
University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
53%
Student body
12K
Median SAT/ACT
1116/24
Arkansas State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
46%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1060/24
University of Central Arkansas’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
65%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1255/29
Hendrix College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$22K
Acceptance
55%
Graduation
72%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1165/25
Harding University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
98%
Graduation
44%
Student body
9K
Arkansas Tech University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/26
John Brown University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
34%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1044/21
Henderson State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
39%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
970/18
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
60%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/24
Ouachita Baptist University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
43%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1067/21
Southern Arkansas University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
36%
Student body
2K
University of Arkansas at Monticello’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Graduation
34%
Student body
1K
Philander Smith College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
43%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/23
Lyon College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Graduation
39%
Student body
<1K
Crowley's Ridge College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
47%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
960/20
University of the Ozarks’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
12%
Student body
<1K
Arkansas Baptist College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
31%
Student body
5K
University of Arkansas–Fort Smith’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$17K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
38%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
960/19
Central Baptist College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
38%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
970/20
Williams Baptist University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
22%
Student body
5K
University of Arkansas Grantham’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utiulized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.
