University of Arkansas Cost, Standards Place it on List of 'America’s 100 Best College Buys’

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas is once again the only higher education institution in the state listed in America’s 100 Best College Buys, the annual report published by Institutional Research and Evaluation Inc., an independent research and consulting organization. This is the seventh straight year that the university has been named to the list.

The 100 Best list is based on the cost and academic standards of accredited, not-for-profit four-year institutions that offer bachelor degrees and full residential facilities. The report is based on a survey of 1,152 public and private colleges and universities. Institutional Research and Evaluation 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 $26,190 per year for the 2007-08 school year. That’s a $1,299 increase from last year’s average.

The University of Arkansas’s in-state cost is $13,054 per year and the out-of state cost is $21,508, both substantially below the national average.

Data from the survey was also used to determine the national average for the grade point averages of incoming freshmen in 2006, as well as the averages for their SAT and ACT scores. Institutional Researh and Evaluation calculated that the national average GPA was 3.28, the average SAT was 1089, and the average ACT was 23.

The University of Arkansas incoming freshmen posted an average GPA of 3.58, average SAT score of 1163, and average ACT score of 25, all well above the national average.

"Keeping a college education affordable and providing need-based scholarships so all qualified students can attend the University of Arkansas are two of our priorities," said Chancellor John A. White. "This year, thanks to increased private and public support, we were able to keep tuition and fee increases below the national level, while continuing to improve the quality of the education our students receive. The fact that the University of Arkansas continues to be included in publications like America's 100 Best College Buys shows the progress we are making toward our goals."

The University of Arkansas is one of nine Southeastern Conference schools included in the 100 Best list. Only Louisiana State University has lower in-state and out-of-state costs than Arkansas; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee have lower in-state costs than Arkansas. Only Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee have higher academic averages for their incoming freshmen than Arkansas. Mississippi, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt were not included in America’s 100 Best College Buys.