Best Data Scientist programs in Arkansas, ranked by enrollment
Develop and implement a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software.
28 schools in Arkansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,608 people a year. The job pays a median of $109,390 in Arkansas across about 530 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Arkansas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
11 programs in Arkansas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Arkansas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arkansas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1301In Arkansas → | 668 | 41.5% | 7 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0701In Arkansas → | 300 | 18.7% | 13 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 3 | CIP 11.0103In Arkansas → | 259 | 16.1% | 8 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 4 | CIP 27.0101In Arkansas → | 259 | 16.1% | 16 | $48,772 | $21,544 |
| 5 | Computational Sciencemain feeder CIP 30.3001In Arkansas → | 44 | 2.7% | 2 | $50,745 | $27,000 |
| 6 | CIP 27.0501In Arkansas → | 28 | 1.7% | 2 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 7 | CIP 26.1103In Arkansas → | 16 | 1.0% | 2 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 8 | Data Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 30.7001In Arkansas → | 10 | 0.6% | 3 | — | — |
| 9 | CIP 30.7102In Arkansas → | 9 | 0.6% | 1 | — | — |
| 10 | CIP 45.0603In Arkansas → | 9 | 0.6% | 2 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 11 | CIP 27.0301In Arkansas → | 6 | 0.4% | 3 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
Top 25 schools in Arkansas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 28 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Public · 6 feeder programs | 437 | Management Science | $57,257 | 71% | — | 74% |
| 2 | Arkansas Tech University Russellville, AR Public · 4 feeder programs | 407 | Information Technology | $45,904 | 49% | — | 96% |
| 3 | Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR Public · 4 feeder programs | 369 | Management Science | — | 55% | — | 82% |
| 4 | University of Arkansas at Little Rock Little Rock, AR Public · 4 feeder programs | 74 | Management Science | — | 42% | — | 59% |
| 5 | University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR Public · 5 feeder programs | 53 | Management Science | — | 54% | — | 89% |
| 6 | Harding University Searcy, AR Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 52 | Computer Science | $78,041 | 69% | $19,423 | 71% |
| 7 | John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 29 | Computer Science | — | 72% | $20,325 | 76% |
| 8 | University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Fort Smith, AR Public · 2 feeder programs | 28 | Computer Science | — | 38% | — | 80% |
| 9 | Hendrix College Conway, AR Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Computer Science | — | 72% | $22,415 | 56% |
| 10 | Ouachita Baptist University Arkadelphia, AR Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 17 | Management Science | — | 61% | $21,322 | 68% |
| 11 | University of Arkansas Community College - Batesville Batesville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Information Technology | — | 66% | — | — |
| 12 | National Park College Hot Springs, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Computer Science | — | 35% | — | — |
| 13 | Southeast Arkansas College Pine Bluff, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Management Science | — | 28% | — | — |
| 14 | University of Arkansas Grantham LIttle Rock, AR Public · 2 feeder programs | 11 | Computer Science | $47,904 | 43% | — | — |
| 15 | Strayer University - Arkansas Little Rock, AR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Information Technology | $67,315 | — | — | — |
| 16 | Arkansas Northeastern College Blytheville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Information Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 17 | University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Bioinformatics | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Lyon College Batesville, AR Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 7 | Computer Science | — | 47% | $22,199 | 63% |
| 19 | North Arkansas College Harrison, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Information Technology | — | 42% | — | — |
| 20 | Philander Smith University Little Rock, AR Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Computer Science | — | 30% | $16,387 | — |
| 21 | University of Arkansas Community College Rich Mountain Mena, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Computer Science | — | 55% | — | — |
| 22 | Southern Arkansas University Main Campus Magnolia, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Mathematics, General | — | 49% | — | 75% |
| 23 | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Mathematics, General | — | 40% | — | 41% |
| 24 | Shorter College N Little Rock, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Computer Science | — | 13% | $13,523 | — |
| 25 | University of the Ozarks Clarksville, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Mathematics, General | — | 51% | $13,608 | 60% |
All 28 schools in Arkansas
Every school in Arkansas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | Public | 437 | 6 |
| Arkansas Tech University | Russellville | Public | 407 | 4 |
| Arkansas State University | Jonesboro | Public | 369 | 4 |
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Little Rock | Public | 74 | 4 |
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway | Public | 53 | 5 |
| Harding University | Searcy | Private not-for-profit | 52 | 4 |
| John Brown University | Siloam Springs | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 3 |
| University of Arkansas - Fort Smith | Fort Smith | Public | 28 | 2 |
| Hendrix College | Conway | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 2 |
| Ouachita Baptist University | Arkadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 4 |
| University of Arkansas Community College - Batesville | Batesville | Public | 16 | 1 |
| National Park College | Hot Springs | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Southeast Arkansas College | Pine Bluff | Public | 14 | 1 |
| University of Arkansas Grantham | LIttle Rock | Public | 11 | 2 |
| Strayer University - Arkansas | Little Rock | Private for-profit | 9 | 1 |
What data scientists earn in Arkansas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $120,230. Arkansas pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Arkansas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Data Scientists page.
How to become a Data Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Arkansas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Data Scientists25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0802Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 26.1104Computational Biology
- 26.1199Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Other
- 27.0101Mathematics, General
- 27.0301Applied Mathematics, General
- 27.0303Computational Mathematics
- 27.0304Computational and Applied Mathematics
- 27.0305Financial Mathematics
- 27.0306Mathematical Biology
- 27.0399Applied Mathematics, Other
- 27.0501Statistics, General
- 27.0502Mathematical Statistics and Probability
- 27.0503Mathematics and Statistics
- 27.0601Applied Statistics, General
- 27.9999Mathematics and Statistics, Other
- 30.0801Mathematics and Computer Science
- 30.3001Computational Science
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4801Linguistics and Computer Science
- 30.7001Data Science, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing data scientists programs in Arkansas.
What degree do you need to become a Data Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Management Science, which awarded 668 degrees in Arkansas in 2024-25, 41.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Data Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 11 programs to this occupation. The largest are Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Computer Science, Computer and Information Sciences, Mathematics, plus 7 more. Together they graduate about 1,608 people a year in Arkansas.
How much do data scientists earn in Arkansas?+
The median is $109,390 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.0% below the U.S. median of $120,230. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for data scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +33.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 23,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Arkansas?+
28 institutions in Arkansas reported graduates from at least one of the 11 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do data scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Intelligence Analyst, Clinical Data Manager, Data Management Manager, Market Intelligence Consultant, Competitive Intelligence Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-2051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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