Skip to main contentSkip to main navigationSkip to footer content
cubcamp participants throw colored powder into the air before starting the fall 2025 semester
Arts and Sciences | Business and Industry | Featured | Health Education and Human SciencesAugust 18, 2025

First-Year and Transfer Enrollment See Gains for 2025

Written By: Rachel Putman

First-year undergraduate enrollment at the University of Arkansas—Fort Smith reached its highest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,030 first-year students registered for the fall of 2025, a 15% increase from the same date in 2024. 

This fall’s student body includes over 4,370 total non-concurrent undergraduate students.

In addition to the more than 1,000 first-year students, 365 transfer students are enrolled this fall, a 49% increase in transfer enrollment from the same date last year. University leaders attribute the gains to targeted recruitment efforts, expanded student support, and significant new scholarship and tuition programs.

“Our admissions advisors have been intentional about connecting with students and families, ensuring they know that higher education is both possible and worthwhile at UAFS,” said Chancellor Terisa Riley. “These preliminary enrollment numbers show that students recognize UAFS is a place where they can receive an exceptional education at an incredible value.” 

Campus housing occupancy hit an all-time record high this fall, with more than 880 students living in the Lion’s Den residence hall and Sebastian Commons apartments, surpassing the previous highest point of 866 in 2014.

Increases in new student enrollment follow strategic changes in the university’s enrollment management operations. Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Brooke Magallanes, who joined UAFS in March of 2024, led a comprehensive overhaul of the recruitment communication schedule, refined enrollment processes to streamline the student application experience, and expanded the university’s outreach across Arkansas and the surrounding region.

The admissions office also intensified its transfer recruitment strategy by hiring a dedicated transfer recruiter, offering individualized transfer advising, and launching “Transfer with Pride” road shows last year. These road shows brought academic leaders, admissions advisors, and financial aid representatives to community colleges to meet directly with students.

Financial accessibility also likely informed this year’s enrollment growth.

For fall 2025, UAFS launched several new scholarships and tuition waivers to reduce the financial burden of higher education. Among the most impactful is the Tuition and Mandatory Fee Guarantee, which covers all remaining tuition and mandatory fees for qualifying Arkansas residents after grants and scholarships are applied. For students whose institutional aid exceeds tuition and fees, remaining aid can be used to pay for on-campus housing, textbooks, and meal plans.

Additionally, the Smart Choice Tuition Waiver, rolled out this year, provides up to $9,000 in tuition savings for transfer students who bring at least 30 earned credit hours and maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA. This new addition complements an existing suite of transfer scholarships to serve transfer students with varying levels of credit attainment. 

And, setting another record, the UAFS Foundation awarded more than $3.1 million in private scholarships last year, with 2025-26 awards expected to surpass that number again, thanks to generous donors and the Foundation’s Intrepid Ambition campaign. 

“This is a university-wide effort,” Riley said. “From the moment a prospective student first engages with us to the time they walk across the graduation stage, every part of UAFS is focused on our students’ success.”

University officials emphasized that these figures are preliminary. The official enrollment count will be finalized after the university’s census date, the 11th day of classes.