Southern Arkansas University Main Campus

Public · Moderately Selective · AR

Photo: Cdbrice00 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationAR · South

SettingRural

Undergrads2,708

Student:faculty16:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate33.6%

6-yr grad rate48.8%

Drop-out rate33.8%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$10k

Out-of-state tuition$16k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity36.9%

Gender diversity58.5%

International1.4%

Identity—

Overview

Southern Arkansas University is a public university in Magnolia, in the timberland country of far south Arkansas, with a small, friendly campus culture typical of a rural regional university. It serves mainly in-state Arkansas students with mainstay programs in education, business, agriculture, and nursing, reflecting the surrounding region's economy. The university's rodeo team is a genuinely distinctive tradition, uncommon among four-year universities outside the rodeo-heavy parts of the country.

Academics

Agriculture ties directly to the timber and farming economy of south Arkansas, while education, business, and nursing serve as the university's other core professional programs. The academic environment is small and personal rather than research-intensive, with faculty who know students individually across a modest range of majors.

Worth knowing

The rodeo program is a real point of distinction — SAU fields a competitive rodeo team, a rarity outside the Southwest and parts of the Great Plains, and it draws a devoted regional following uncommon for a university this size.

saumag.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate75.3%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 875–1105 · ACT 17–24

Test policyrequired

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying