University of Arkansas System


The University of Arkansas System is a state university system in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It comprises six campuses; a medical school; two law schools; a graduate school focused on public service; a historically black college; statewide research, service, and educational units for agriculture, criminal justice, archeology; several community colleges; and a high school. Over 50,000 students are enrolled in over 188 undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.
Legally, the entire system carries the name The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas. Nonetheless, to avoid confusion with its flagship campus in Fayetteville, the system usually refers to itself as the University of Arkansas System and the Fayetteville campus usually refers to itself as the University of Arkansas.
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History

The original and flagship campus was established in Fayetteville as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871 under the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. The system now includes both of the state's land-grant colleges, as University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was later designated as such under the 1890 Morrill Act; it left the system in 1927, but returned in 1972. The Division of Agriculture and UAM's forestry programs also contribute to the system's land-grant mission. The Division of Agriculture includes the statewide Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service. AAES and CES were managed by the dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics on the Fayetteville campus until 1959, when the Board of Trustees established the statewide Division of Agriculture as a unit of the U of A System.
The University of Arkansas System as an organized educational alliance could be said to date from the founding of UAPB or perhaps UAMS joining the system. The Division of Agriculture was established in 1959 as a statewide system unit with its own line-item appropriation from the state Legislature. University of Arkansas President David Wiley Mullins, along with the Board of Trustees, brokered a series of mergers in the late 1960s. The Little Rock and Monticello campuses joined the system in 1969 and 1971, and UAPB returned to the system in 1972. In 1975, a University of Arkansas Board of Trustees policy officially adopted the name "University of Arkansas System" as an alternative identification for the system, along with the present names of the campuses, in order to allow the Fayetteville campus to continue its identification as the "University of Arkansas". The policy has been amended over the years as other campuses were added.
In March 2014, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees created eVersity, a 100% online university aimed to serve students who were unable to access traditional higher education campuses. The University of Arkansas System eVersity was the first and only public, online university in the state of Arkansas. In November 2021, the University of Arkansas System acquired Grantham University, a for-profit online college based in Lenexa, Kansas, for $1 It was renamed the University of Arkansas Grantham, into which eVersity was merged to become one institution. University of Arkansas Grantham now serves as the only 100% online institution for the entire system.
The administrative offices for the University of Arkansas System are located in Little Rock.

University presidents

Up until 1982, the president was the chief administrative officer of the Fayetteville campus and the University of Arkansas System. In 1982, the position of chancellor was created to be the top administrator at the Fayetteville campus, and the title of president referred only to the University of Arkansas System.
PresidentTenure
Noah P. Gates1871–1873
Albert W. Bishop1873–1875
Noah P. Gates1875–1877
Daniel Harvey Hill1877–1884
George M. Edgar1884–1887
Edward H. Murfee1887–1894
John L. Buchanan1894–1902
Henry S. Hartzog1902–1905
John N. Tillman1905–1912
John Hugh Reynolds 1912–1913
John C. Futrall1913–1939
J. William Fulbright1939–1941
Arthur M. Harding1941–1947
Lewis Webster Jones1947–1951
John T. Caldwell1952–1959
Storm Whaley 1959–1960
David Wiley Mullins1960–1974
Charles E. Bishop1974–1980
James E. Martin1980–1984
Ray Thornton1984–1990
B. Alan Sugg1990–2011
Donald R. Bobbitt2011–2025
Jay B. Silveria2025–present

University campuses

CampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowmentAthletics
Division
Primary
conference
GranthamUniversity of Arkansas Grantham19514,427
FayettevilleUniversity of Arkansas187130,936$1.7 billionRazorbacksDivision I Southeastern (SEC)
Little RockUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock19278,103$136 millionTrojansDivision I Ohio Valley (OVC)
MonticelloUniversity of Arkansas at Monticello19103,762$22.8 millionBoll WeevilsDivision IIGreat American (GAC)
Pine BluffUniversity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff18733,332$1.9 millionGolden LionsDivision I Southwestern (SWAC)
Fort SmithUniversity of Arkansas at Fort Smith19287,329$38.8 millionLionsDivision IIMid-America (MIAA)

Law schools

LocationCampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowment
FayettevilleUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleUniversity of Arkansas School of Law1924445$84.2 million
Little RockUniversity of Arkansas at Little RockWilliam H. Bowen School of Law1975450$43.4 million

Graduate school

LocationCampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowment
Little RockIndependentUniversity of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service200496$0.00 million

Other system units