by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Top Arkansas Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
After analyzing 36 schools in Arkansas, we came up with our list of those that offered the highest quality education. To come up with this ranking, we look at more than 20 factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include freshman retention, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, and post graduate earnings, among other things.
We know that one set of rankings doesn't always help you determine the best school for you, so we've created the ability to narrow your list by location and field of study as well as alternative rankings that prioritize different factors such as those of importance to veterans and returning adults or those who value diversity and value for your money.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2025 rankings named University of Arkansas the best school in Arkansas in terms of overall quality for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $58,191 during the early years of their career..
A rank of #2 on our Best Colleges in Arkansas list means Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from UA Cossatot is $33,775 during the early years of their career.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Harding University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Arkansas.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Harding is $52,876 during the early years of their career.
Out of the 36 schools in Arkansas that were part of this year’s ranking, Arkansas State University - Main Campus landed the #4 spot on the list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $42,617 during the early years of their career..
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at NorthWest Arkansas Community College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Arkansas.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $43,505 during the early years of their career..
John Brown University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from JBU is $53,907 during the early years of their career.
Arkansas Northeastern College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas Northeastern College go into careers with an average salary of $33,169 during the early years of their career.
University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UA Pulaski Tech make an average of $34,722 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #9, Southeast Arkansas College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
The impressive student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. During the early years of their career, graduates from SEARK College make an average of $33,603 a year.
With a ranking of #10, Ouachita Baptist University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Ouachita Baptist make an average of $51,673 a year.
With a ranking of #11, University of Central Arkansas did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $45,938 during the early years of their career..
Arkansas Tech University landed the #12 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $41,766 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #13, University of Arkansas at Little Rock did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $45,265 during the early years of their career..
University of Arkansas - Fort Smith came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UAFS make an average of $41,102 per year during the early years of their career.
Southern Arkansas University Main Campus ranked #15 on this year’s Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $42,386 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #16, Southern Arkansas University Tech did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from SAU Tech go into careers with an average salary of $36,376 during the early years of their career.
University of Arkansas Community College - Morrilton landed the #17 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UACCM make an average of $34,924 per year during the early years of their career.
Read full report on University of Arkansas Community College - Morrilton
Hendrix College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking, coming in at #18.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $60,376 during the early years of their career..
National Park College landed the #19 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from National Park College make an average of $32,444 a year.
Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas ranked #20 on this year’s Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
The low student loan default rate of 1.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1% Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Phillips County Community College make an average of $29,552 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Arkansas at Monticello landed the #21 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from UAM go into careers with an average salary of $36,902 during the early years of their career.
North Arkansas College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Northark go into careers with an average salary of $34,653 during the early years of their career.
Ozarka College landed the #23 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ozarka College is $29,314 during the early years of their career.
South Arkansas Community College ranked #24 on this year’s Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from SouthArk is $34,521 during the early years of their career.
Arkansas State University Three Rivers landed the #25 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from ASU Three Rivers go into careers with an average salary of $37,374 during the early years of their career.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.