Arkansas Tech University
Public College in Russellville, AR. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $41,766.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,766 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 49% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $21,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. It also moves people — 2.1% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 96% of applicants are accepted. The applicant pool runs to 3,654, typical for a school of this reach. 34% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. 2% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 450–550 | 29 (2%) |
| SAT Math | 430–550 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–23 | 1,038 (88%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Arkansas Tech University →Academics
49% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 74% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 21% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 39% return, against 74% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,993 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,626 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $12,426 at $0–30k, $15,543 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 83% of students at an average of $10,180. Federal borrowing reaches 39% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,373 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,426 |
| $30–48k | $11,165 |
| $48–75k | $13,130 |
| $75–110k | $14,675 |
| $110k+ | $15,543 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,323 of these 5,993 students, totalling $16,253,997 — an average of $6,997 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pope County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)