University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

University of Arkansas-Fort Smith operates as a public institution located in Fort Smith, Arkansas (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 4,091 students of which 6,089 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. University of Arkansas-Fort Smith is categorized as “22” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 80.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,050. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $10,574, with published in-state tuition of $7,334 and a Pell grant recipient share of 39.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $18,250, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 37.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 69.8%. Graduates earn a median of $41,102 ten years after enrolling, compared with $35,925 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 252600.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 55.6% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.