U.S. News and World Report has named Arkansas Tech University the No. 1 regional public university in Arkansas for the 2026-27 academic year.
It is the sixth consecutive year that U.S. News and World Report has recognized ATU as the top regional public university in Arkansas.
Arkansas Tech is also listed by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 40 regional public universities in the southern United States for 2026-27.
Founded in 1909, Arkansas Tech announced a preliminary fall 2026 enrollment of 9,516 students. ATU is the only higher education institution in Arkansas listed by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in both its “Higher Access” and “Higher Earnings” categories when evaluating accessibility and post-graduation outcomes for students.
“Community is rooted in everything we do at Arkansas Tech University,” said Dr. Russell Jones, ATU president. “Our values have been established over more than 100 years. Our students inherit the wisdom of those who came before us, and they get a chance to put it into practice. That’s what really matters…when a student leaves Arkansas Tech, we want them to have a better life in front of them than when they arrived here.”
U.S. News and World Report used up to 17 measures of academic quality and graduate success to evaluate more than 1,700 U.S. four-year, bachelor’s degree-granting institutions for its 42nd rankings edition. Graduation rates, first-year retention rates, first-generation graduation rates and student-to-faculty ratio are among the factors included in the methodology.
Visit www.atu.edu to learn more about Arkansas Tech University.
