Home › Colleges › University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

🎓 College profile

University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

AR · Public · Small city · 2,677 applicants 2023

82% admit rate $19,048/yr full price
Get your child's odds at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. University of Arkansas-Fort Smith starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$7,334 — major value play)
  • Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: ACT below 18 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields
Total enrollment
4,091
5,000 - 9,999
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$7,334
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$12,182
+$4,848 vs in-state

⚠️ Sticker price isn't every family's price. Lower- and middle-income families often pay materially less after grants; higher-income families frequently pay close to sticker unless the college offers merit scholarships. Check the school's own net-price calculator for your number.

Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
81.5%
Accepts the majority
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
18–23
composite
Test policy
Required
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$41,102
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$35,925
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$41,102
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
38%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$18,250

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of Arkansas-Fort Smith actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
248 degrees · 52.0%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Health Professions
88 degrees · 18.4%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
3. Education
62 degrees · 13.0%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
4. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
40 degrees · 8.4%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
5. Computer & Information Sciences
39 degrees · 8.2%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of Arkansas-Fort Smith's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer and Information Sciences, General. Bachelor's Degree — $51,896 $82,688
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 69 $69,618 $73,708
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. Bachelor's Degree 8 $54,484 $72,074
Chemistry. Bachelor's Degree 14 $22,255 $66,817
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. Bachelor's Degree 16 $58,380 $65,470
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 239 $39,057 $50,020
Biology, General. Bachelor's Degree 36 $26,541 $48,712
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. Bachelor's Degree 17 $40,525 $45,378
Social Work. Bachelor's Degree 10 $32,532 $45,275
History. Bachelor's Degree 9 $26,445 $45,097

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
0.4%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
2.0%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
13.5%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
39%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

CS degrees (annual)
29
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $7,211 less before aid
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $5,092 less before aid
Indiana University-Northwest
IN · Public
$13,989/yr full price (in-state) · $5,059 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
Arkansas Tech University
AR · Public
96% admit rate (vs 82% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than University of Arkansas-Fort Smith does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public
9.9% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)
CUNY New York City College of Technology
NY · Public
8.3% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

Deciding on University of Arkansas-Fort Smith?

Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and every other college on your list.

Get your child's odds at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith →

Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid

For Parents

📬

Get alerts when University of Arkansas-Fort Smith's numbers change

New admit rates, costs, and outcomes — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎯 Get your child's odds →