The University of Arkansas System

The University of Arkansas was established in Fayetteville by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1871 as the Arkansas Industrial University, and under the Morrill Act of 1862 became the state land-grant institution and first state-assisted college in Arkansas. In 1873 the university established its second campus in Pine Bluff, which in 1890 was designated as a land-grant campus. In 1879 the university accepted responsibility for the academic management and operation of a new privately-established, not-for-profit medical campus located in Little Rock. This campus was merged into the university by the General Assembly in 1911, and is now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Little Rock University, a private institution founded in 1927 as Little Rock Junior College, was merged into the University System in 1969 as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In 1971 Arkansas A & M College was merged into the University System as the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The Pine Bluff campus, which had been separated in 1927 and called Arkansas A M & N College, was reunited with the University in 1972 as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 1996, two community colleges were adopted into the University of Arkansas system and became Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, located at Helena, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope. In 1998, Gateway Technical College became part of the University of Arkansas system and was renamed the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. In 2001, Petit Jean Technical College became the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, and the system also acquired Cassatot Community College of the University of Arkansas, with a main campus in DeQueen and sites in Nashville and Ashdown. In 2002, Westark Community College joined the system as the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. In 2003, Forest Echoes Technical Institute and Great Rivers Technical Institute merged with the University of Arkansas at Monticello to become the UAM College of Technology, Crossett, and the UAM College of Technology, McGehee. The Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences merged with the University of Arkansas System on January 1, 2004.  The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service was founded, in conjunction with the Clinton Presidential Library, on January 29, 2004.

The University of Arkansas System administration is located on the Cammack Campus in Little Rock.

The Cooperative Extension Service has headquarters in Little Rock and offices in all 75 Arkansas counties. The Agricultural Experiment Station operates research facilities on three University of Arkansas campuses, at Arkansas State University, at regional centers and in branch stations and other locations throughout Arkansas. The Criminal Justice Institute is headquartered in Little Rock. The Arkansas Archeological Survey's Coordinating Office is located in Fayetteville, and survey archaeologists are based at seven public universities. Research stations are located at Toltec Mounds State Park and Parkin Archeological State Park.

Through the major campuses, the community colleges, and through the state-wide operating divisions of the Arkansas Archeological Survey and the Division of Agriculture, the university carries out its mission, which may be broadly stated as follows:

The University of Arkansas is a comprehensive, multi-campus, publicly-aided institution dedicated to the improvement of the mind and spirit through the development and dissemination of knowledge.

The university embraces and expands the historic trust inherent in the land-grant philosophy by providing access to academic and professional education, by developing intellectual growth and cultural awareness in its students, and by applying knowledge and research skills to an ever-changing human condition.