FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas continues to be one of the educational “best buys” for college students, staying below the national average in cost and above the national average in academic standings. The university is the only Arkansas institution listed in America’s 100 Best College Buys, the annual report published by Institutional Research and Evaluation Inc., an independent research and consulting organization.

The 100 Best list is limited to accredited, four-year institutions that offer bachelor degrees and full residential facilities. The report is based on a survey of 1,204 public and private colleges and universities. IRE averaged the total of out-of state costs at public institutions and the standard costs at private schools, to reach a national average cost of $24,891 per year for 2006-2007. That’s a $1,000 increase from last year’s average.

The participating schools also provided grade point averages and average SAT and ACT scores for their incoming freshmen classes in 2005. IRE calculated that the national average GPA was 3.27, the average SAT was 1090, and the average ACT was 23.

The University of Arkansas reported out-of state costs of $20,464, more than $4,000 below the national average. In-state tuition is another $8,000 below the out-of-state costs. The university’s incoming freshmen posted an average GPA of 3.57, average SAT score of 1156, and average ACT score of 25 — all well above the national average.

“Making college affordable is not only a national higher education priority, but also a priority for the University of Arkansas,” said Chancellor John A. White. “We strive to keep tuition and fee increases as low as possible, without jeopardizing the quality of the education our students receive. The continued inclusion of the University of Arkansas in publications like America’s 100 Best College Buys is evidence that we are succeeding in balancing appropriately the cost and quality of a college education.”

The University of Arkansas is one of seven Southeastern Conference schools included in the 100 Best list. Only three, Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisiana State University, have lower in-state and out-of-state costs than Arkansas; Florida, Alabama and Georgia have lower in-state tuition than Arkansas. Only Florida and Georgia have higher academic averages for their incoming freshmen than Arkansas. Mississippi, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt were not included in the 100 Best list.

Regionally, the only major university with both lower costs and higher academic averages than Arkansas is the University of Oklahoma. The University of Texas at Austin and Kansas University did not make the top 100 list.