Ranked, compared, and filtered by real data: costs, outcomes, and admissions
The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has built a stronger national profile over the past two decades than most people outside the state realize, supported in part by philanthropic ties to the business community that gave rise to Walmart and Tyson Foods in the same region.
A strong network of community colleges reaches into a largely rural landscape where access to higher education matters as much as institutional prestige.
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See how Arkansas's colleges compare to the national average on the four measures most students and families weigh when deciding where to go: cost, acceptance rates, graduate earnings, and graduation rates.
The colleges in Arkansas that rank highest by UCD Score, and those that deliver above-national graduate earnings at a below-average net price, two of the strongest signals when choosing a school.
Not every student is looking for the same thing. These six panels rank Arkansas's colleges by the data that matters most for each path.
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by net price
Ranked by enrollment
Ranked by grad earnings
Which colleges give you the most for what you spend? These eight schools rank highest in Arkansas by the ratio of 10-year graduate earnings to annual net price.
| # | College | Net Price / yr | Earnings (10yr) | Ratio | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas De Queen | $4,385 | $33,775 | 7.7× | Excellent |
| 2 | University of Arkansas Grantham LIttle Rock | $8,370 | $63,496 | 7.6× | Excellent |
| 3 | Black River Technical College Pocahontas | $5,095 | $34,818 | 6.8× | Excellent |
| 4 | Ozarka College Melbourne | $4,543 | $29,314 | 6.5× | Excellent |
| 5 | University of Arkansas Community College Rich Mountain Mena | $4,842 | $30,037 | 6.2× | Excellent |
| 6 | Arkansas Northeastern College Blytheville | $5,375 | $33,169 | 6.2× | Excellent |
| 7 | Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas Helena | $4,848 | $29,552 | 6.1× | Excellent |
| 8 | NorthWest Arkansas Community College Bentonville | $7,196 | $43,505 | 6.1× | Excellent |
ROI Ratio = median earnings 10 years after enrollment ÷ annual net price. Higher is better.
The six fields of study with the most annual graduates across all colleges in Arkansas, based on IPEDS completion data.
The specific degree programs producing the most graduates across Arkansas's colleges. A more granular view than the Popular Majors above, useful when you already know roughly what you want to study and want to see where the volume is.
The cities in Arkansas with the most colleges, ranked by number of institutions.
Utah crowds 14,137 students into each of its colleges, four times the national norm. These are the states where college options are scarcest per student.
There are 170 colleges that operate a medical school, and they cluster hard. Texas leads with 14, three states hold a fifth of them, and four states have none.
Northeast college graduates earn about $12,700 more a decade out than Southern ones, but they also pay thousands more to get there. The regional split, by the numbers.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
Scout uses AI and can make mistakes. Verify important numbers on the page.
