Higher Learning Enrollment Rises

Total fall 2010 enrollment at seven Northwest Arkansas institutions of higher education has risen to 40,183, a 9.9 percent increase since 2008.

The biggest attendance boost was at University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, which has risen from 6,772 students to 7,716, up almost 14 percent. Ecclesia College in Springdale saw the biggest three-year dip: 23.2 percent.

Although tuition has fallen slightly at John Brown University, it has remained on par with 2009’s rates elsewhere. Annual in-state undergraduate tuition at the state’s flagship, the University of Arkansas, is $5,211 as of fall 2010.