University of Arkansas Undergraduate Enrollment Tops 20,000 For First Time

University of Arkansas officials described the new school year as a “record-breaker” as preliminary enrollment numbers indicate the state’s flagship institution set new records.

Total enrollment was roughly 24,600 students, while undergraduate enrollment topped 20,000 for the first time and freshman enrollment exceeded 4,500 new students.

“Many times growth at colleges and universities comes at the cost of academic standards, but the growth the University of Arkansas has been experiencing over the past few years is different — it’s quality growth coming mostly from existing students succeeding and making positive progress toward graduation,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “With that said, our incoming class of freshmen is once again the most academically accomplished and prepared group we’ve ever had. That’s a great combination.”

This year’s freshman class has a grade point average above 3.6 and average ACT scores above 26.

“We’ve also seen a significant increase in the number of students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class. So we can again say this year’s incoming class is the most academically accomplished and most prepared in the history of the University of Arkansas,” Gearhart added.

Undergraduate enrollment at the university has increased nearly 37% during the past 5 years, according to UA officials.

Monday’s enrollment figures are still preliminary. The official numbers will not be available until after the “11th day snapshot” required by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. That information will be collected on Sept. 4 and officially filed by mid-October.