University of Arkansas vs. Louisiana State University

Effectively a tie, and both read as lightly selective public flagships. Arkansas admitted about 73.9% of applicants and LSU about 73.3%, so neither plays as a reach for a well-prepared student. The profiles part on testing: among enrolled first-years who submitted, LSU's middle 50% scored 1180–1320 on the SAT and 24–30 on the ACT, above Arkansas's 1020–1210 and 21–28, while both report an average high school GPA around 3.83.

Strong at both, with only a modest residency gap. For Fall 2025 Arkansas admitted 76.2% of out-of-state applicants against 79.2% of residents; for Fall 2024 LSU admitted 72.3% of out-of-state applicants against 80.1% of residents. LSU lists geographical residence and state residency as not considered in its review, and Arkansas's out-of-state share has climbed to about 49% of undergraduates against 40% at LSU, so non-residents make up a real part of each class.

LSU leans harder into engineering, which accounts for about 10% of its bachelor's degrees and ranks as its second-largest field, anchored by petroleum, chemical, and coastal programs. Engineering runs smaller at Arkansas, roughly 7% of degrees, where business dominates instead. A student set on engineering finds more company and more depth at LSU.

Arkansas, by a clear margin. Business and marketing is its single largest field at about 31% of degrees, anchored by the Sam M. Walton College of Business and a nationally ranked supply chain program. LSU also leads with business, but at a lighter 22% of degrees inside a more even spread across engineering, education, and the sciences. For a business-first student, Arkansas points its whole catalog that way.

It depends on aid, since the sticker and the discounts pull in opposite directions. Out-of-state tuition and fees run about $33,184 at Arkansas versus $28,631 at LSU, so LSU lists lower. Arkansas closes that gap with its automatic New Arkansan non-resident tuition award for qualifying students, while LSU has no automatic equivalent. On need-based aid LSU does more on average, meeting about 57% of demonstrated need with a package near $17,052, against 55% met and roughly $12,543 at Arkansas.

LSU runs larger, enrolling about 34,242 undergraduates to Arkansas's 29,252, on an urban Baton Rouge campus in the state capital. Arkansas sits in Fayetteville, a smaller Ozark college town in the state's northwest corner. Both house most students on campus and carry a heavy SEC football culture, so the surrounding city and the size of the crowd shape the day-to-day more than the headline stats.