Arkansas Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  28

  74,648 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~10,528

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  24th pct

  $44,232

  38th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  65th pct

  1.8%

  16th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  26th pct

  66%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  40th pct

  2.6x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Arkansas graduates earn a median of $44,232 a decade after entry, 9% below the national state average, ranking 38th of 50 states.

2. 2

   Upward mobility is a defining strength: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 1.8% rate, in the 65th percentile nationally.

3. 3

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 43% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

4. 4

   Humanities shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 15.6% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, Arkansas returns 2.6x earnings per dollar of net price, roughly average cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 2.8% rate, the highest in Arkansas.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -16.3%

  Median graduate earnings in Arkansas are below the national average by 16%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -23.5%

  Net price in Arkansas is lower than the national average by 24%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▲ +0.17pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.2 percentage points above the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -6.8pp

  Arkansas's graduation rate is 6.8 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 7.7x

  Top value school: Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas ($33,775 earnings vs $4,385 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 19.1%

  19% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (25% of graduates) and Healthcare (18% of graduates) dominate Arkansas's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $43,392.

• Business

  25%

  $43,392 avg

• Healthcare

  18%

  $60,967 avg

• Humanities

  13%

  $42,452 avg

• Social Sciences

  10%

  $47,383 avg

• Sciences

  7%

  $46,597 avg

Arkansas's highest-ROI degree cluster is Healthcare (Health Professions), where graduates average $50,770 against a net cost of $17,409, a 2.9x return. That's -1.6% vs the national median.

• Health Professions

  2.9x
  $50,770 earnings · $17,409 net -1.6% vs natl

• Communications

  2.7x
  $45,728 earnings · $16,830 net -11.3% vs natl

• English & Literature

  2.7x
  $46,866 earnings · $17,298 net -9.1% vs natl

• Criminal Justice

  2.7x
  $44,151 earnings · $16,333 net -14.4% vs natl

• Engineering

  2.7x
  $46,633 earnings · $17,266 net -9.6% vs natl

• Social Sciences

  2.7x
  $46,361 earnings · $17,175 net -10.1% vs natl

Three lenses on Arkansas's talent pipeline: which fields produce the most graduates, which command the highest earnings, and where high-pay demand outruns local supply.

Arkansas's colleges post an average mobility rate of 1.8%, which puts the state in the 65th percentile nationally. 14% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households, a larger share than most states enroll. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.32, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Humanities graduates, however, earn 15.6% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  25% of enrollment
  $44,493 -13.7% vs natl

  22 schools

• Healthcare

  18% of enrollment
  $51,035 -1% vs natl

  15 schools

• Humanities

  13% of enrollment
  $43,512 -15.6% vs natl

  13 schools

• Social Sciences

  10% of enrollment
  $45,252 -12.3% vs natl

  12 schools

• Sciences

  7% of enrollment
  $46,362 -10.1% vs natl

  9 schools

• Education

  7% of enrollment
  $43,867 -14.9% vs natl

  12 schools

Arkansas's higher education system includes 1 research-oriented, 5 specialized, 7 access-oriented, 15 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  1

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  15

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  7

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  5

  Specialized Institutions

36% of Arkansas's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $39,327 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  8

  36% of schools

  Avg earnings: $39,327

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  14

  64% of schools

  Avg earnings: $47,613

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 Jefferson Regional School of Nursing Pine Bluff, AR $73,975
2. 02 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR $73,827
3. 03 University of Arkansas Grantham LIttle Rock, AR $63,496
4. 04 Baptist Health College Little Rock Little Rock, AR $62,244
5. 05 Hendrix College Conway, AR $60,376
6. 06 University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR $58,191
7. 07 John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR $53,907
8. 08 Harding University Searcy, AR $52,876

What graduates in Arkansas earn relative to what they pay for college.

• Philander Smith University
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
• Arkansas Baptist College
• Shorter College

Every figure on this page is derived from public federal data and read within its regional and economic context. Information Gain Policy →