by our College Data Analytics TeamHarding University is a private not-for-profit institution in Searcy, Arkansas enrolling 3,382 undergraduates. It accepts 70% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 69%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #766 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 15%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Harding University ranks #766 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 15%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Harding University was awarded 124 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Harding is ranked #766 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Harding is also ranked #3 on the Best Colleges in Arkansas list.
See all of the rankings for Harding University.
Harding University has an acceptance rate of 70%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 18% of students accepted to Harding submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 530 and 660. Math scores were between 520 and 630.
Harding received ACT scores from 75% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 20 and 29.
Learn more about Harding University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Harding University is about average at 13 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Harding University is 66%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 86% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Harding University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Harding for first-time, full-time students is 69%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Harding University.
The current enrollment includes 3,382 undergraduates at Harding.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Harding University.
The typical net cost at Harding is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15,418 | $17,430 | $19,832 | $22,017 | $26,284 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Harding, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Harding, approximately 44% of students took out student loans averaging $10,055 a year. That adds up to $40,220 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Harding University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Harding University make around $52,876 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Harding University make the most money.
Harding University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Searcy, Arkansas. Searcy is a great place for students who enjoy small town life. Get more details about the location of Harding University.
Contact details for Harding University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 915 E. Market Ave., Searcy, AR 72149-5615 |
| Phone: | 5012794000 |
| Website: | www.harding.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harding_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/HardingU |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/HardingU |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 24 majors graduated from Harding University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,307 | NA |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 154 | $37,311 |
| Nursing | 105 | $65,312 |
| Business Administration & Management | 72 | $53,488 |
| Special Education | 68 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 54 | NA |
| Accounting | 52 | $56,219 |
| Communication Sciences | 47 | $41,723 |
| Biblical Studies | 44 | $28,728 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 35 | $37,079 |
804 students took at least one online class at Harding University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Harding University.
Interested in comparing Harding? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.