Arkansas State University

Public · Moderately Selective · AR

Photo: Zereshk (CC BY 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationAR · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads9,110

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate41.4%

6-yr grad rate55.4%

Drop-out rate21.9%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$8k

Out-of-state tuition$15k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity36.9%

Gender diversity63.5%

International10.1%

Identity—

Overview

Arkansas State, in Jonesboro, is the flagship of its own university system and serves as the main institution for the state's northeastern Delta region, with an identity that is regional and access-oriented rather than built around national prestige. Red Wolves athletics, competing in the Sun Belt Conference, give the school real campus energy, and the Jonesboro setting offers a fairly traditional college-town atmosphere for the surrounding rural Delta. A-State's programs reflect the practical needs of the region it serves — agriculture, healthcare, and education chief among them.

Academics

Nursing and health professions, agriculture, and education are the university's core strengths, directly reflecting the healthcare and farming needs of the Arkansas Delta, an area built around rice and cotton production. A-State also maintains a genuinely unusual branch campus in Querétaro, Mexico, offering bachelor's degrees taught in English to Mexican students — a distinctive international partnership rarely found at a regional public university of its type. The broader Arkansas State University System also includes several two-year campuses across the region, extending its educational reach well beyond Jonesboro itself.

Campus & student life

Red Wolves athletics, competing in the Sun Belt Conference, give campus life a real focal point, and A-State football has built a national reputation as a launching pad for young head coaches who go on to bigger programs, giving Saturdays in Jonesboro a surprising level of attention for a school this size. The Jonesboro setting offers a fairly traditional college-town atmosphere for the surrounding rural Delta region.

Getting in

Admission is largely formula-driven and accessible, consistent with the university's role as the region's main access point to higher education for northeastern Arkansas. Health-professions programs, especially nursing, apply their own additional competitive review once students are enrolled, given strong regional demand for graduates in those fields.

After graduation

Graduates in nursing, agriculture, and education place heavily across the Arkansas Delta region, with the university serving as a key regional talent pipeline for healthcare systems and school districts. A-State's football coaching pipeline has also become a notable, if unconventional, outcome story in its own right, with several former coaches moving on to major programs.

Worth knowing

The branch campus in Querétaro, Mexico is a genuinely distinctive feature not found at most regional public universities, giving Arkansas State an international dimension unusual for a school of its regional focus. A-State's reputation as a proving ground for young football coaches is a real, if unusual, point of national visibility for a university otherwise defined by regional service.

astate.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate82.3%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 970–1190 · ACT 18–24

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying