Ouachita records highest enrollment in history
September 11, 2025
- James TaylorOuachita Baptist University has announced its Fall 2025 enrollment of 1,889 students, breaking the previous record set in 1966. The historic total reflects a 10% increase in new undergraduates and a 35% increase in all graduate students since last year.
“This great news is evidence that students and families are finding value in the education and community they discover at Ouachita," said President Ben Sells. “No matter the academic major a student chooses, our faculty and staff are personally committed to helping them grow as they prepare for lives of meaningful work.”
The incoming freshman class is academically strong, with 30 Arkansas Governor’s Distinguished Scholars and 196 students with at least a 4.0 high school grade point average. Each student in the freshman class, which averaged a 24 ACT score, received a merit-based scholarship.
The university also announced that undergraduate scholarships will increase for students entering in Fall 2026.
“As families learn about the scholarships available at Ouachita, they tell us how much they appreciate the opportunities from a university that is academically excellent and unapologetically Christian,” Sells added.
Ouachita's outcomes continue to set the university apart, including state-leading retention and graduation rates as well as 99% placement in a job or graduate school within six months of graduation.
“It really felt like home from the minute I stepped on campus,” said Avery Walker, a sophomore from Little Rock, Arkansas, majoring in secondary education, English and Spanish. “I toured Ouachita my junior year of high school and was really drawn to the way everything was centered around the Lord and community.”
With almost all undergraduates living on campus, residence halls and apartments have grown close to capacity. Sells encourages prospective students to apply early for admission.
Total enrollment includes residential undergraduate, online undergraduate and graduate students, as well as high school students taking Ouachita courses for concurrent credit.
After relaunching graduate programs in 2020, the university’s grad enrollment is now the highest since 1987. The record number includes 42 students in Ouachita’s M.A. in counseling program, which recently received a $1.1 million grant to support students financially during their clinical training.
Ouachita Baptist University, a Christian liberal arts university, is in its 140th year and was named AY Magazine’s Best Private College in Arkansas. Learn more about the university's highly personal approach at www.obu.edu.
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