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

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - For the third consecutive year, the University of Arkansas is the only public institution in the state named in the 2003-04 edition of the America’s 100 Best College Buys.

The five private institutions from Arkansas named in the report include Harding University in Searcy, Hendrix College in Conway, John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Lyon College in Batesville and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

"This publication selects institutions that exhibit a combination of high academic quality with comparatively low cost," Chancellor John A. White said. "This distinction provides strong evidence that our tax payers, students and their families are getting their money’s worth from Arkansas’ only comprehensive public research university."

America’s 100 Best College Buys is published annually by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc., an independent research and consulting organization located in Rome, Georgia. Data for the report was generated from research conducted during the company’s 13^th Annual National College Survey, which was submitted to the offices of the directors of admissions of 1,461 accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Of those directors surveyed, 1,086 responded.

To be considered among the best college buys, an institution must:

1. Be an accredited, four-year institution offering bachelor degrees.
2. Offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
3. Have an entering class of freshmen in fall 2002 with a high school grade point average (GPA) and/or ACT/SAT score equal to or above the national average of entering college freshmen.
4. Have an out-of-state cost of attendance in 2003-04 for three quarters or two semesters below the national average cost of attendance or not exceeding the national average cost by more than ten percent.

of-state cost for a public institution for 2003-04 was $21,308. The survey also calculated an average high school GPA for entering freshmen of 3.22 (on a 4.0 scale) and the average ACT and SAT scores were 23 (out of a possible 36) and 1092 (out of a possible 1600) respectively.

was $9,855 for in-state students and $16,605 for out-of-state students. Incoming freshmen maintained an average ACT score of 25, an average SAT score of 1163 and an average GPA of 3.57.