by our College Data Analytics TeamOuachita Baptist University is a private not-for-profit institution in Arkadelphia, Arkansas enrolling 1,602 undergraduates. It accepts 68% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 61%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #956 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 19%), 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.
Ouachita Baptist University ranks #956 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 19%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Ouachita Baptist University was awarded 56 badges in the 2027 rankings.
OBU is ranked #956 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, OBU holds the #5 spot on the Best Colleges in Arkansas ranking.
See all of the rankings for Ouachita Baptist University.
The acceptance rate at Ouachita Baptist University is a competitive 68%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.
About 15% of students accepted to OBU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 650. Math scores were between 530 and 630.
OBU received ACT scores from 74% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 22 and 28.
Learn more about Ouachita Baptist University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1, Ouachita Baptist University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
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 Ouachita Baptist University is 95%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Ouachita Baptist University has a freshmen retention rate of 83%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at OBU for first-time, full-time students is 61%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Ouachita Baptist University.
The current enrollment includes 1,602 undergraduates at OBU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Ouachita Baptist University.
The overall average net price of OBU 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15,207 | $15,954 | $18,007 | $19,151 | $26,281 |
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 OBU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At OBU, approximately 46% of students took out student loans averaging $5,494 a year. That adds up to $21,976 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 5.5%. 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 Ouachita Baptist University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University make about $51,673 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. 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 Ouachita Baptist University make the most money.
Ouachita Baptist University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Arkadelphia is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Ouachita Baptist University.
Get in touch with Ouachita Baptist University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 410 Ouachita St, Arkadelphia, AR 71998-0001 |
| Phone: | 8702455000 |
| Website: | www.obu.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouachita_Baptist_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/ouachita |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/ouachita |
In the latest year of available data, students from 22 majors graduated from Ouachita Baptist 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 | 534 | NA |
| General Biology | 50 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 45 | NA |
| Finance & Financial Management | 39 | $51,579 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 38 | $30,498 |
| Business Administration & Management | 31 | NA |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 24 | $33,047 |
| General Psychology | 24 | $22,174 |
| Nursing | 21 | NA |
| Communication Sciences | 19 | NA |
316 students took at least one online class at Ouachita Baptist University.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Ouachita Baptist University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to OBU? 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.
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