arkansas-state-universityDegree Options at Arkansas State University

Arkansas State University appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Most Affordable Online Business Graduate Degrees.

Students can choose from undergraduate, graduate, and online degrees when they apply to Arkansas State University. Some of the most popular degrees earned by students at the university include those in nursing, biology, early childhood education, and kinesiology & exercise science. The school has a freshman retention rate of 75 percent, and its student-faculty ratio is 16:1.

Some of the most sought-after programs at Arkansas State University are available at every level of study, as well as in different formats. For example, nursing degrees are offered as associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, and students can also earn a Master of Nursing degree or enroll in online study for the Doctor of Nursing Practice or the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Students who want to enroll in online study can also choose from several certificate programs that don’t require the same investment of time as a full bachelor’s or master’s degree. Certificates are available in superintendent education, special education instructional specialist K-12, special education of gifted, talented & creative, and special education director.

Other certificates include those in social media management, leadership studies, healthcare emergency management, and graphic communication. Most certificates are offered online, but a handful requires that students attend classes on campus. Those programs include certificates in free enterprise, emergency medical technician, family nurse practitioner, and digital humanities.

Online degrees are ideal for students who have full-time jobs or family commitments, as well as students who don’t live in Arkansas or who aren’t local to the Jonesboro campus. Some of the full degree programs available 100 percent online include those in criminology, psychology, communication studies, and organizational supervision.

For students at the pinnacle of their education, doctoral programs at Arkansas State University that are available online in some cases and on-campus for others include the Doctorate of Education, Doctorate of Nursing Practice, and Doctor of Occupational Therapy. For Doctorates of Philosophy, students may study environmental sciences, molecular biosciences, or heritage studies.

First-time college students can also find an impressive diversity in their programs with topics available for study in Bachelor of Science programs in areas like mathematics, sport management, environmental science, business administration, and biotechnology. Bachelor of Arts options include criminology, philosophy, chemistry, theater, and psychology.

About Arkansas State University

Arkansas State University was established in 1909 and is a public university located in Jonesboro. The campus is the flagship of the state university system in Arkansas and has around 22,000 students attending classes. The university’s official colors are white, scarlet, and black, and the school’s varsity sports teams participate in NCAA Division I games as the Red Wolves. The university’s teams were known as the Red Indians until 2008.

When it was first established, the university offered instruction to future teachers and would begin offering two-year degrees in 1918. The school would see its name changed in 1925 to the First District Agricultural and Mechanical College and would become Arkansas State College in 1933. The institution would gain university status in 1967. In recent years, the university has tightened its admission standards.

Arkansas State University Accreditation Details

Arkansas State University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and this accreditation covers the entire institution. Regional accreditation allows the university and its students to participate in the federal Direct Loan program, as well as allow transfer credits to and from the school. Students who earn a degree from Arkansas State University can attend other institutions for further study with a degree from an accredited institution.

There are also some programs that are programmatically accredited, as well as some colleges and schools that have gained various approvals from specialized organizations. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, International has accredited several business degrees that include the bachelor’s degree programs in accounting, economics, marketing, and other related areas. Several programs in education are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.

Arkansas State University Application Requirements

Students who apply to Arkansas State University can qualify for unconditional admission with a high school GPA of at least 2.75 or a GED score of 525. Students must also have an official ACT score of 21 or higher or an SAT score of at least 990 on the reading and math portions. Students who have a GPA of 2.30 or above or a GED score of 460 to 524 can qualify for conditional admission.

Conditional admission also requires that students have a minimum ACT score of 19 or an SAT score between 910 and 989 on the math and reading portions. For high achieving applicants, the university offers admission to the honors college, which requires a GPA of at least 3.5. Students who apply to Arkansas State University don’t have to submit an extra application for the honors college since all applications are examined for inclusion.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Tuition for in-state undergraduate students at Arkansas State University is $4,450 per semester based on 15 credit hours of enrollment. Out-of-state students will pay $7,930 for tuition each semester. There are some extra course fees and additional tuition costs for some programs and classes. For graduate students, the rate for in-state tuition is $4,273 per semester. The rate for out-of-state students is $7,597 per semester.

Students can qualify for tuition waivers, and students who enroll in online courses will need to pay an additional identity compliance fee of $10 for each credit hour attempted. High School Concurrent enrollees online don’t need to pay this fee. For doctoral students, some course fees may be added to the total cost of tuition that ranges from $5.00 to $255.00 per course.

The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships shares that students can qualify for many different types of financial aid that include on-campus student employment, work-study, scholarships, waivers, grants, and loans. Around 90 percent of the university’s students receive one or more of these types of financial aid. To qualify for financial aid, students must submit their FAFSA form and may want to fill out independent scholarship forms, too.

Some of the institutional scholarships include the A-State Scholar Scholarship, A-State Achievement Scholarship, A-State Merit Scholarship, A-State Heritage Grant, and the Out-of-State Scholarship. Students who are admitted to the Arkansas State University by the priority deadline of December 1 can qualify for these and other scholarship programs.

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