The University of Arkansas seems to me to be a total hidden gem. One of the best college cities in the US, and certainly in the SEC. Incredible athletics, well known brand. Top 35 undergrad business school (per US News), generous out of state merit scholarships. Why not more popular? I get it is ranked lower than some other large universities, but honestly, the US News rankings can be interpreted any number of different ways, and the value of those rankings are certainly meaningful but shouldn’t be the be all end all. I personally think Arkansas will both rise in the rankings and start to be discovered in the coming years. Thoughts?
This isn’t meant to undermine what you wrote in substance, but the problem is you could make a similar case for many public universities. In really nice college towns/cities, good athletics, one or more programs where they have a specialty ranking higher than their general ranking, available out of state scholarships . . . .
These are good things to be sure, but rankings necessarily are a zero sum game. So with lots of other public universities having similar virtues, they can’t all rise in the rankings without bumping into each other.
Which to me is a reason just not to pay attention to the rankings too much. Why think of this as a zero sum game when it is clearly not?
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I’m just not sure it’s much more of a “hidden gem” than say any other large southern or plains state flagship. The schools in the surrounding states – University of Oklahoma, Okla State, University of Kansas, Mizzou, K-State, etc., all seem to offer the same general value proposition as Arkansas: fun social life, big-time sports, big greek presence, a traditional Everybody’s All-American type of college experience, and academics that are fine if somewhat middling. Other than Fayetteville being in the Ozarks and therefore a more scenic spot than, say, Stillwater or Lawrence, not sure Arkansas is that different from other nearby Big 12/SEC schools.
Arkansas is generous with it’s “NRTA” (Non-Resident Tuition Award) Scholarship, but it’s a far cry from what one can get from places like Alabama or Ole Miss, which will pretty much cover 100% of tuition through automatic scholarships if you have grades above 3.5 and a stellar ACT/SAT. Arkansas does offer generous named fellowships to about 80-100 incoming freshman, but the competition is stiff, the process involves a lengthy application and an in-person interview, and for out-of-staters, those fellowships are really difficult to get. Compared to other SEC schools, I actually think Arkansas’s merit scholarships are much harder to get, and not quite as generous as many of its peers.
Finally, there’s the fact that Arkansas is lower ranked than many of the peer institutions I’ve cited. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mizzou, Alabama, Auburn, and even OIe Miss are higher ranked than UA-Fayetteville in recent years in US News & World Distort’s rankings. Like it or not, USNWR is still the 800 lb gorilla of American college rankings, and Arkansas only beats out Mississippi State amongst all of the SEC schools. Like any big southern flagship, Arkansas has some well regarded programs amongst its academic offerings (for example Supply Chain/RFID/Logistics, Creative Writing, Architecture), but from my outsider’s perspective, there’s not much to really distinguish it from every other nearby flagship state U.
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Just to give some numbers, I believe there are 146 “R1” research universities in the United States, and I believe 107 of those are public, including the University of Arkansas.
That’s a lot, too many of course to all be mentioned every time someone here is looking for some ideas about possible colleges. And of course LACs, R2s, and so on can be great places to go to college too . . . .
Which doesn’t mean Arkansas should never be mentioned, but it makes sense it will typically only get mentioned if the person in question has preferences which would make Arkansas a particularly good fit.
Rankings have made a zero sum game out of something that isn’t.
Oh, and…Go MIZZOU! 
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@lovetractor UA is super popular for kids from Houston-those that can’t get into UT or A&M. UA gives in state tuition freely, it seems.
I agree, it is a GORGEOUS campus!! Not the easiest to get to, but tons to do in the area.
I agree with the poster. Having been to campus and spending time in Fayetteville, it’s magnificent. The state is - hmm - not nice but the stretch from Fayetteville to Bentonville and even North to Bella Vista is very nice and becoming more worldly.
The Walton School has recently come into prominence but Arkansas, as a state still has an image.
When people think of Bama and how is this different. Forgetting the merit is more at Bama - it’s closer to more population and the school is a marketing machine, traipsing the country looking for students.
You can be in Greece, Israel or Alaska and see a Roll Tide shirt. Maybe only Michigan is equally represented. Not so much the hogs.
I could be wrong but I don’t see Arkansas as the marketing machine. With the Walton School, it’s definitely one to watch !!
Totally agree it’s a hidden gem.
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Coming from the northeast of the US, not only do we not think about the University of Arkansas, we also tend to not think about the state of Arkansas. To a large extent students here have sort of largely forgotten that the state even exists.
Which may be a pity.
I agree that there are many very good universities in the US. On the one hand that means that they cannot all be ranked in the top 100, because there are significantly more than 100 very good universities. This also means that some will tend to be overlooked.
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I wonder if there’s a NE bias on the cc. Not for school selection but from those of us who post - is it the most heavily represented region ??
No idea about regional bias, but if there is a bias on cc, it’s towards highly selective colleges, which are clustered more densely in the northeast. I also feel like the California schools get a lot of play on cc – Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC – probably due to the insane levels of applications received at these schools.
Back to the original poster’s query: It feels to me like the University of Arkansas is in an interesting spot. It doesn’t offer the generosity of merit aid that one can find at Ole Miss or Alabama. Razorback sports are massive, but football just hasn’t been a consistent powerhouse since Arkansas moved into the SEC in the 1990s. Basketball’s been very good in recent years, and track and field is far and away the school’s most successful sport, even though no one follows track.
Even the school’s location itself makes it a bit of a “tweener”… is it really a southern school, or is it more of a plains school being closer to Oklahoma State and KU than it is to much of the rest of the SEC. The Arkansas campus itself has some pretty parts, especially the historic cluster around the expansive main lawn / Old Main / Vol Walker Hall. The athletic facilities are top-notch across the board, but I’d argue that the overall academic campus at Arkansas is not quite as nice as the campuses at Alabama, Ole Miss, or Auburn.
Someone mentioned the “image” of Arkansas, and I think in the national consciousness, there remains a perception of Arkansas as a sort of backwater. Having done a lot of business trips back to NW Arkansas due to the prevalence of Fortune 500 companies having to cater to the whims of Wal*Mart, there is no doubt that the area is one of the fastest growing regions in the country. And the Ozark Plateau makes NW Arkansas extremely pretty, especially in the fall. But again, unless family or business calls you down to Arkansas, is it a place that one would naturally be drawn to as a college applicant if you’re not from there? I don’t believe so.
Finally, I come back to my initial question: what about the University of Arkansas really differentiates it from any large state school in the surrounding states? I think it’s a fine school for Arkansas kids or those in surrounding states who can get reciprocal in-state tuition, but beyond that I don’t see much to distinguish Arkansas vs. Kansas, K-State, Mizzou, Oklahoma, Okla State, Ole Miss, Auburn, LSU, Alabama, etc.
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I think there’s a combination of factors at play.
First off, below is a map from the 2020 Census showing where people are living. There’s a big, dense white streak between Virginia and Massachusetts, along with a lot of other white dots of varying sizes in the area. There’s just a lot more people up there than there are in much of the southeast (though the Florida to North Carolina band is getting more dense, too).
Alternatively, if you look at the population of New York City (or Los Angeles County), you can see how just those little dots have the same population as large swaths of the U.S. So when looking at that Census map in navy/black/white, the white chunks are REALLY densely populated.
Beyond being populous areas, another factor is who shows up to CC. Families who are happy with their state flagship aren’t coming to CC. Students who will be heading to community colleges aren’t generally going to show up here either. More often than not, it’s the families who want some prestige/status (whether overall, departmental, or USNWR prestige). Frankly, that’s not the majority of families in the U.S. It’s either wealthier families and/or those where the culture has an emphasis on one’s alma mater (and not because of their football prowess). So the families who attended Bates or Boston U. or Skidmore or Bryn Mawr…they generally probably stayed in the northeastern corridor (generally speaking). So these names are very well-known and respected up there…whereas in much of the rest of the U.S., most of those names mean relatively little, certainly in the measure of cachet.
But for people who know a whole lot about those schools, they are an excellent resource here on CC, as there are families who are interested in those schools or the perspectives of people who can compare coastal schools (west coast vs. east coast).
But yes, I suspect that a preponderance of regular posters do live in the northeastern U.S.
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I do think that the “image” of Arkansas that pops up in much of the national consciousness is not favorable. I suspect that it often gets lumped into people’s attitudes toward Appalachia and the Ozarks, with Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arkansas getting similar levels of national esteem.
That said, the U. of Arkansas offers a lot of opportunities for people who look. Although the scholarship amounts are slightly higher for residents of nearby states, the school now offers similar scholarshps for residents from anywhere in the U.S. which can make it a real bargain (source). It has major sports (including SEC) but because of its location, it’s not nearly as hot as it can get at more popular SEC schools like LSU or Alabama. It’s big enough that students can study almost anything there, but not so popular that students can’t switch between majors with relative ease, even popular ones. The beauty and outdoor opportunities around Fayetteville are excellent, as well.
I agree that U. of Arkansas is often overlooked, but then, so are many other colleges as well.
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There certainly is an anti-Arkansas bias. Heck, I live in Memphis. We seldom think of Arkansas. It might was well be across the Pacific. We focus on Mississippi and the fact that Nashville forget we exist.
If you live in Memphis, you dismiss the state of Arkansas because the two hour drive between Memphis and the Rock is easily the ugliest two hours of scenery in the US - and it’s not even close - ugly and littered with big trucks transporting goods from Texas to the north.
It’s like driving through two hours of a toilet - well almost - but Fayetteville - totally different. The school is loaded with Texans - specifically folks from Dallas.
Some really good discussion here. Memphis to Little Rock is indeed a wasteland. But once you get to Little Rock up to Fayetteville it is really beautiful.
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Would not disagree with this statement.
I think there is definitely a NE bias on CC. I’m originally from New England but have lived in the PNW for a long time. I can tell you that places like Connecticut and even New Jersey, are not high on the list of states that people here think about. New Hampshire is about as familiar as Manitoba 
Which would just be expected right?
U of Arkansas was D23’a safety school. We have a neighbor here in Portland whose daughter attended and loved it. D23 didn’t end up attending but they gave her a very nice OOS scholarship. I think it may wind up being S25’s safety as well, he’s outdoorsy and it’s a great area.
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Indeed - Arkansas could hardly get more popular here in DFW. There are 12-15 kids going there every year just from our public high school, and there are dozens of schools like ours. For kids that are not top 10% (and thus not auto-admit at A&M or UT), Arkansas is a relatively low-cost alternative just 5 hrs away. When you factor in SEC sports, extensive Greek life, tons of outdoor recreation, strong alumni network in DFW, etc., it is often more appealing than other in-state publics in TX.
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I don’t think Arkansas is hurting for students is it? I mean it may not be popular on CC, but I think in the real world it remains popular. The Razorbacks are pretty well known.
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