UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AND FIVE PRIVATE ARKANSAS INSTITUTIONS NAMED TO "AMERICA’S 100 BEST COLLEGE BUYS"

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- For the third year in a row, the University of Arkansas is the only public institution in the state named to the newly published 2002-03 edition of America’s 100 Best College Buys.

Also named are five private in-state institutions: Harding University in Searcy, Hendrix College in Conway, John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Lyon College in Batesville, and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

"Because this publication selects institutions that combine high academic quality with comparatively low cost, it provides strong evidence that taxpayers, students and their families are getting their money’s worth from the state’s only major public research university," said Roger Williams, associate vice chancellor of university relations.

America’s 100 Best College Buys is published by Institutional Research & Evaluation, Inc., an independent research and consulting organization headquartered in Rome, Ga.

Last spring, the company conducted its 11^th Annual National College Survey, submitted to directors of admissions at 1,485 accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Of the institutions surveyed, 1,026 schools responded.

To be considered for the top 100, an institution must:

1. be an accredited, four-year institution offering bachelor’s degrees;
2. offer residence halls and dining services;
3. have an entering freshman class in fall 2001 with a high school grade point average and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average; and
4. have out-of-state cost of attendance in 2002-03 for three quarters or two semesters below the national average cost of attendance or not exceeding it by more than 10 percent.

The average cost of attendance (tuition and fees plus room and board) for the University of Arkansas was $9,266 for in-state students and $15,638 for out-of-state students. By contrast, the national average cost of attendance for private institutions and out-of-state publics was $19,430, according to the survey.

For the UA’s fall 2001 freshman class, the average high school grade point average was 3.54. Nationally, the average was 3.21, according to the survey.

For the UA’s fall 2001 freshman class, the average SAT score was 1140 and the average ACT score was 25. Nationally, the averages were 1081 for the SAT and 23 for the ACT, according to the survey.