Ouachita Baptist University
Private College in Arkadelphia, AR. Six-year graduation rate 64%. Median 10-year earnings $51,673.
Ten years after entry, the median Ouachita Baptist University student earns $51,673 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 64%, meaning about one in three students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $21,050 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.4% of students move from the bottom income quintile 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
Ouachita Baptist University accepts 68% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,155 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. 29% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 15% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 540–650 | 65 (15%) |
| SAT Math | 530–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–28 | 313 (74%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Ouachita Baptist University →Academics
Completion is middling: 64% finish inside six years. 83% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,612 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $24,532 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,207 while those at $110k+ pay $26,281. Grant aid is widespread — 96% of students receive it, averaging $28,811. About 49% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 464 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 | $15,207 |
| $30–48k | $15,954 |
| $48–75k | $18,007 |
| $75–110k | $19,151 |
| $110k+ | $26,281 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 796 of these 1,612 students, totalling $4,373,382 — an average of $5,494 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Clark 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)