The 10 Best College Towns In Arkansas For 2024

Believe it or not, America has the best colleges in the world. It's been proven by data (and surveys) that the U.S. educational system is of the highest quality

It's actually not even close and Arkansas is home to a handful of them.

While we could debate which colleges within Arkansas are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Arkansas are the best.

You know, the type of places where there's energy and stimulation, but the type of place you can walk around at night. The happiest, chillest, most downright fun places where you can send your kids off to college where you won't break the bank, or worry about their well being.

The 10 Best College Towns In Arkansas For 2024

1. Monticello, AR
2. Arkadelphia, AR
3. Fort Smith, AR
4. Fayetteville, AR
5. Magnolia, AR
6. Conway, AR
7. Russellville, AR
8. Searcy, AR
9. Springdale, AR
10. Siloam Springs, AR

While some of these may not seem like a 'real' college town per se, when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue against.

And for those who live in Monticello, Arkadelphia and Fort Smith - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Monticello ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

Read on to find out more or for more on Arkansas check out:

• Best Places To Live In Arkansas
• Best Counties To Live In Arkansas
• Cheapest Places To Live In Arkansas

The 10 Best College Towns In Arkansas For 2024

Colleges: University of Arkansas at Monticello, Margaret's Hair Academy Inc

Colleges: Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, ABC Beauty College Inc

Colleges: University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, Arthur's Beauty College Inc-Fort Smith, Academy of Salon and Spa

Colleges: University of Arkansas, Paul Mitchell the School-Arkansas, Blue Cliff College-Fayetteville

Colleges: Southern Arkansas University Main Campus

Colleges: University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, Central Baptist College

Colleges: Arkansas Tech University, Arkansas Beauty College

Colleges: Harding University, Searcy Beauty College

Colleges: Northwest Technical Institute, Career Academy of Hair Design, Ecclesia College

Colleges: John Brown University, Career Academy of Hair Design-Siloam Springs

How'd we figure out the best college towns in Arkansas?

To crunch our data on Arkansas's best college towns, we used Saturday Night Science to decide which qualities (or rankings) make sense to use in the data, and then crunch the numbers for our rankings.

First off, we firmly decided that only cities with a 4 year college should make the cut -- so there has to be at least one college granting bachelors degrees in town.

You might be surprised to hear that there are only 16 places in Arkansas with an institution of higher learning with that criteria.

Source of data include OpenStreetMaps, the College Scorecard, the U.S. Census, and FBI reporting data to include the following factors:

• Students Make Up Large % of the Population
• College-specific Factors
• Graduation rate
• Tuition Cost
• Student Body Diversity
• Town Characteristics
• Safety
• Affordability
• Income and Employment Opportunities
• Things to Do
• Bars
• Museums & Libraries
• Population Density

We ranked each city across each of the criteria, with one being the best.

We rolled up the individual scores into the category and ranked them again based on the category.

Finally, we took the average rank across each category, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title "Best College Town In Arkansas For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Arkansas.

And it looks like Monticello placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The Arkansas

If you're looking for the best college towns in Arkansas, you came to the right place.

The best college towns in Arkansas are Monticello, Arkadelphia, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Magnolia, Conway, Russellville, Searcy, Springdale, and Siloam Springs.

These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.

For more reading, check out:

• Arkansas Cities With The Largest Hispanic Population
• Small Towns In Arkansas Where You'd Never Want To Live
• Best Cities For Singles In Arkansas

16 Best College Towns In Arkansas

Rank	City	Population
1	Monticello, AR	8443
2	Arkadelphia, AR	10354
3	Fort Smith, AR	89315
4	Fayetteville, AR	95022
5	Magnolia, AR	11044
6	Conway, AR	65159
7	Russellville, AR	28946
8	Searcy, AR	22961
9	Springdale, AR	86705
10	Siloam Springs, AR	17632
11	Little Rock, AR	202218
12	Jonesboro, AR	78379
13	Clarksville, AR	9453
14	Batesville, AR	11163
15	Pine Bluff, AR	41172
16	Paragould, AR	29690