The 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools

The University of Central Arkansas lands on two Newsweek lists: It is No. 23 among the most desirable large campuses and the 24th most desirable rural school. One student on CollegeProwler.com sums up why students love the public school’s location in Conway, Arkansas: “Our town is swarming with college students because University of Central Arkansas is not the only college around. We have two other college campuses, Hendrix and Central Baptist College.”

The school has an undergraduate enrollment of just over 11,000, 56 percent of who are women. At 71 percent, Caucasians make up the majority of the student body, followed by African-Americans at 15 percent, Hispanics at 2 percent and Asian-Americans at 2 percent. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the school retains 72 percent of its first-year students and the overall graduation rate is 41 percent.

Tuition, including room and board, for the 2009–2010 school year was $18,038 for in-state students and $23,243 for non-Arkansas residents. That year, 86 percent of students received some form of financial aid.