RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Boxes are unpacked, classrooms are full, and college campuses are alive again as Arkansas Tech University kicked off its first day of classes Wednesday.
As students settle in, Arkansas Tech is celebrating more than just the start of the 2025 school year — it’s celebrating one of the largest freshmen classes since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The university saw a 12% increase in freshmen enrollment compared to the last school year. Students say the uptick is because of the opportunities and sense of belonging on campus.
“I think, financially, it’s one of the best options in the state,” Chasey, a junior at Arkansas Tech, said. “Second, it feels like home.”
Heading into the new school year, Arkansas Tech also set institutional records for retaining first-year students — an issue Arkansas colleges have fought for years.
“Last year, our retention from freshmen to sophomore was 75%, the highest we’ve ever had, and fall to spring for our freshmen class was 84%,” President Russell Jones said. “We have a saying here: an engaged student is a retained student, and a retained student is a graduated student.”
For Jones, the greatest accomplishment was Arkansas Tech being ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 3 in the nation on the Social Mobility Index — a ranking that measures how well universities help economically disadvantaged students succeed.
While those numbers reflect the university’s impact beyond the classroom, leaders say changes on campus itself are just as important. One of the biggest upgrades is the Ferguson Student Union.
“This will give them a sense of home for that fitness and well-being side of their life, but also it’s the living room of campus,” Chelsea Neal, associate dean of Campus Life and Student Union, said.
The new Ferguson Student Union will span more than 70,000 square feet, featuring meeting and lounge spaces along with a recreation center that includes basketball courts, fitness rooms and a turf field. Construction is expected to be finished by March 2026.
Students say the campus atmosphere has shifted in recent years, with more of them willing to get involved and connect with each other again.
“Students are finally ready to branch out,” Chasey said. “A lot of the students who were in the COVID times just were scared to reach out because their classes had become less interactive.”
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