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HARRISBURG — The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees approved 2026-27 tuition and mandatory fees for its schools Thursday.
The flagship campus in Fayetteville will increase tuition and fees nearly 4%, similar to the school’s 3.89% increase for 2025-26 and 3.66% in 2024-25. Tuition and mandatory fees will total $10,916, up from $10,497 in 2025-26, with rates based on 30 credit hours and in-state tuition. Most students take 30 credits per year.
The price per semester credit hour for undergraduate Arkansas residents at the University of Arkansas would increase from $269.75 to $277.84. Nonresident undergraduates would pay significantly more — $1,020.11, or roughly $50 more than they paid in 2025-26.
Total undergraduate mandatory fees would be $86.03 per semester credit hour, up about $6 from 2025-26, but the university would not charge a general student fee to support the Department of Athletics.
Students, state lawmakers and others have expressed concerns recently that UA might begin charging students more to shore up financial support for athletics.
In January, trustees told UA officials to come up with a plan for the university to generate millions of dollars more annually for athletic department operations. That directive came in the wake of a June 2025 settlement in a national class action lawsuit that allows colleges and universities to directly share revenue with student athletes, potentially reshaping college sports nationwide.
In March, the board authorized UA System President Jay Silveria to implement a plan to boost athletics funding at the University of Arkansas, which he said at the time would have “minimal, if any, impact on student costs.”
The tuition increase for UA-Fayetteville “is not in any way related” to athletics funding, said Tara Smith, the system’s chief financial offer, during the board of trustees meeting held Thursday at the UA System Division of Agriculture Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center in Harrisburg.
“There was no pass-on of costs to students, (nor) retrenchment of student services,” said UA Chancellor Charles Robinson. “Athletics are very important, and we want to be successful, but the university is more than only” sports.
The university is helping support athletics from university reserves, and “we’ll probably do that again” next year, Robinson said. But, he acknowledged, those reserves will run low eventually, “so we’ll need a different plan.”
A consultant’s review presented Wednesday to the board of trustees outlined multiple ways the athletics department could increase revenue, including changes to its ticketing model, additional sponsorship opportunities and a reevaluation of how resources are allocated across sports.
Trustee Judd Deere said it’s “a huge testament to (the chancellor’s) leadership that we have those reserves.”
“I didn’t see how we could” provide more funds for athletics without retrenching student services and/or adding student fees, Deere said.
Graduate residents at the university will pay $473.47 per semester credit hour, up roughly $14 from 2025-26, while non-residents will pay $1,287.74, up from $1,250.24. Individual programs such as architecture, business and nursing have specific charges, as do some graduate programs, like the law school, public health and nursing.
OTHER CAMPUSES
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will seek a modest fee increase and hold tuition steady, while the University of Arkansas at Little Rock plans to increase only tuition, not mandatory fees. UAPB tuition and fees would rise less than 1%, to $9,762, up $60 from last year, while UALR is seeking a 2% increase, to $10,174, up from $9,971 in 2025-26.
UAPB leadership felt it was imperative to control costs because of an emphasis on “access and affordability, (and) student success,” said Chancellor Anthony Graham. Nearly a third of UAPB students are first-generation college students, and 75% are eligible for Pell Grants — federal aid for those in financial need — so “we understand their financial challenges,” he said.
In addition, “we have momentum — GPAs are rising,” Graham said, “so we don’t want to put up financial barriers that might slow that student success momentum.”
UALR Chancellor Christina S. Drale said the school tries to minimize tuition increases. “The last thing you want to do is lose enrollment because tuition is too high,” she said.
The Little Rock campus is raising stipends for graduate assistants this year, among other financial commitments, which “we haven’t done in at least 15 years, and faculty were having a hard time hiring GA’s,” she said.
UA System leadership recommended campuses look to the Higher Education Price Index, a measure of inflation experienced by U.S. higher education institutions as guidance for their tuition and fees requests, Silveria said. The index increased 3.6% year over year, he said.
State funding for higher education has not kept up with inflation over the past decade, and Arkansas’ funding for the upcoming fiscal year is flat or down for most UA System schools.
While raw tuition increases year to year, it’s “going up at a slower rate than the average price of a good,” said trustee Ed Fryar. The number of hours an Arkansan would have to work to pay tuition at UA System schools is “lower by quite a bit” than a decade ago, so it’s actually “a better deal” today than 10 years ago, he said.
The system will need to consider if tuition increases have any impact on enrollment, said trustee Ashley Caldwell. In other states, “exorbitant” tuition hikes have driven away students.
The system enrolls more than 70,000 students, and UA System institutions awarded more than 14,000 degrees and certificates across campuses during this spring’s commencements, according to Silveria.
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is increasing tuition and fees from $9,826 to $10,181, a 3.61% rise. Costs at the University of Arkansas at Monticello will be $9,963, up from $9,618, a 3.59% increase.
DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASE AT MORRILTON
Among the UA System’s two-year colleges, the largest percentage increase — 12.74% — will be at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton. Tuition and fees will be $5,310 for in-district students, up from $4,710.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Deere motioned to approve tuition and fees, except for UACC-Morrilton, because a 12.74% increase is “quite high.”
He suggested decreasing the hike to roughly 6.8% but withdrew his motion for lack of a second. He then voted against the motion to approve tuition and fees Wednesday, and again Thursday.
The increase is designed to make up for several years of tuition rates that perhaps were too low, accommodate substantial enrollment growth and “get in alignment with similar campuses,” said Chancellor Lisa Willenberg.
Willenberg said “we have the fourth-highest enrollment among the state’s 22 community colleges,” but the Morrilton school ranks 21st in state funding.
“We’ve had tremendous growth, but state funding has not kept up,” and enrollment is projected to increase nearly 3% this fall, she said. “Our expenses are clearly outpacing increases in revenues.”
“I think we have to support that campus, (because) we’re in the business of educating people who want to be educated,” said trustee Steve Cox. The college has a growing nursing program, among others, and “lots of increased expenses.”
Trustee Kevin Crass called 12.74% “a shocking” increase, but Willenberg “made a good case for it.”
However, other UA System schools should not assume such levels of increase would be approved in future years, he added. “This is a special case,” Crass said.
Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson covers higher education across the state. He joined the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in August 2022 after covering education — and other topics — for a decade at four newspapers in three states. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ryan attended DePaul University in Chicago and now resides in Fayetteville.
