LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ― G. David Gearhart wrapped up a seven-year tenure as chancellor of the University of Arkansas hopeful that a state with few college graduates will push more of its children into higher education.
“You’re healthier, wealthier and happier if you have a degree. I’m not sure that Arkansas values that as much as it should,” Gearhart said.
Only about 1 in 5 Arkansas residents hold a four-year degree, up from 1 in 8 a generation ago. The Fayetteville campus has boosted enrollment in an effort to match peers in the Southeastern Conference, and it and other schools have benefited from increased attention on the value of higher education and a state lottery that funds college scholarships.
“The governor established a goal of doubling the number of degrees” by 2025, said Shane Broadway, a former legislator and past head of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. “It’s not just getting them into college, but what strategies do we need to employ to get them to graduation.”
At Fayetteville, growth has come while also finding students better equipped for college.
“We’ve done it without compromising quality. The student class has been better each year,” Gearhart said.
Only 12 percent of its incoming freshmen last year had ACT scores at 21 or lower, compared to 28 percent in 1998. The six-year graduation rate is now at 62.3 percent. In the 1990s, fewer than half graduated in six years.
