Established: 1873
Joined System: 1972
Enrollment: 2,615
www.uapb.edu

At a Glance

An 1890 land-grant institution, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is the second-oldest public university and the only public historically black institution in Arkansas. The institution’s historic mission is to teach in areas related to agriculture and the mechanical arts, as well as scientific and classical studies and help solve economic, agricultural and other problems in the community, state and region.

UAPB offers 33 undergraduate degrees, 8 master’s degree and a PhD program in Aquaculture/Fisheries that is home to one of the country’s leading programs that also supports Arkansas’s $165 million aquaculture and baitfish industry. The university’s bachelor degree program in regulatory science is a designated Center of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Other areas of emphasis at UAPB include teacher education, business development and student leadership development and its NSF funded Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy.

Points of Pride

• UAPB offers Arkansas’s only undergraduate regulatory science and aquaculture and fisheries degree programs. The regulatory science program prepares students for entry-level employment in four of the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulatory agencies.
• Started in 2003, the UAPB STEM Academy is a federally funded program designed to increase the number of minorities and women choosing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers. The program has a retention rate of more than 80 percent and offers students international internship opportunities, support for graduate students seeking degrees in STEM areas and partnerships with numerous other institutions. The STEM Academy and Conference Center is under construction and will be completed by Fall 2014.
• UAPB is the lead institution for the Arkansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ARK-LSAMP), a federally funded program that has a shared interest to increase the number of STEM graduates in the state of Arkansas who go on to careers in STEM disciplines.
• UAPB has a diverse faculty with more than 60 percent having earned doctoral degrees. The university’s 18-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio allows for a learning environment with close interaction between teachers and students.
• UAPB is fourth in the State for the amount of research funding and is also a member of the Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA).