Data released by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education indicates that Arkansas Tech University remains the statewide leader in attracting incoming students from Arkansas who wish to major in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The ADHE data shows that over the past five years (2013-17), 1,939 first-time entering students at Arkansas Tech who were graduates of Arkansas high schools chose to major in one of the STEM fields.
That figure represents 18.7 percent of all in-state STEM students at Arkansas colleges and universities since 2013, and it ranks Arkansas Tech ahead of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (2nd, 1,723 students), the University of Central Arkansas (3rd, 1,580 students), Arkansas State University (4th, 1,388 students), the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (5th, 934 students) and Henderson State University (6th, 736 students) in attracting Arkansans to study in the STEM fields over the past five years.
The information was released as part of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board regular quarterly meeting, which took place on Friday, July 27, in Fayetteville.
“For almost a decade now, Arkansas Tech University has consistently been the STEM institution of choice for Arkansas high school graduates,” said Dr. Robin E. Bowen, ATU president. “This distinction is a reflection of the quality of our programs and faculty, our steadfast commitment to our institutional heritage and our dedication to serving as a place of opportunity for the people of the Natural State. We are proud that more than 92 percent of our students come from Arkansas, and we are pleased that we were able to increase our scholarship budget by $1 million over the past year so that even more Arkansans can enjoy the benefits of an Arkansas Tech University education.”
