Just overall opinions and facts I just want some more opinions and info. thanks
Do you qualify for merit aid that would offset OOS tuition? Home state?
I don’t know much about LSU, other than it is much larger than Arkansas.
Arkansas has a relatively-large OOS contingent, albeit many from surrounding states. They have an OOS tuition discount on a sliding scale that drastically reduces the OOS surcharge if you qualify, and works on a formula so you can calculate and rely on it. On top of this, they give a large number of merit scholarships, including to OOS kids, that STACK with the OOS tuition discount program.
Arkansas used to be a standard southern flagship, slightly on the small side, in a great college town in a beautiful part of the state (surrounded by mountains and national forestland, with ample river access). Over the last decades, the boom of Walmart, Tyson, and the trucking industry has generated a ton of jobs and explosive growth in the region, though most of that growth is in the cities north of Fayetteville up through the Missouri border and not within the city of Fayetteville itself. The money has flowed in from corporate donors in the last 20 years, and now UA has a relatively-large endowment for a school of its size and nature, and there has been a TON of building on campus. UA has also dramatically upped the average quality of the student body (there has been growth at Arkansas colleges below UA’s tier, which has allowed the university to replace with higher-achieving kids).
I would say overall it is a solid choice for an OOS student who wants a shot at merit aid, and a cheaper cost even without much aid, and an environment that is a public-flagship in a (larger) college town, with some southern/midwestern charm but without as much as some of the deeper South schools. Very OOS friendly environment, in that regard.