Arkansas·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2051

Best Financial programs in Arkansas, ranked by enrollment

Conduct quantitative analyses of information involving investment programs or financial data of public or private institutions, including valuation of.

13 schools in Arkansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 675 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,110 in Arkansas across about 1,390 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAnalystFinancial AnalystInvestment AnalystSecurities AnalystInvestorBank AnalystBond AnalystPrime Broker
Graduates / yr
675
in Arkansas
Median pay · Arkansas
$81,110
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,390
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
53%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,325
per year, IPEDS

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.

4 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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0801In Arkansas
654
96.9%
12$53,572$23,672
2
CIP 52.0304In Arkansas
16
2.4%
2$51,824$24,433
3
CIP 52.0807In Arkansas
4
0.6%
1$53,572$23,672
4
CIP 52.0305In Arkansas
1
0.1%
1$51,824$24,433

Top 13 schools in Arkansas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
456Finance, General$56,38771%74%
2University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
60Finance, General$44,34354%89%
3Arkansas State University
Jonesboro, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
35Finance, General$43,06055%82%
4Ouachita Baptist University
Arkadelphia, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
28Finance, General$53,19561%$21,32268%
5University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Little Rock, AR Public · 2 feeder programs
20Finance, General$60,52142%59%
6University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
Fort Smith, AR Public · 3 feeder programs
19Accounting and Finance38%80%
7Arkansas Tech University
Russellville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
17Finance, General49%96%
8Harding University
Searcy, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Finance, General$53,87669%$19,42371%
9Williams Baptist University
Walnut Ridge, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Finance, General26%$16,44383%
10John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Finance, General72%$20,32576%
11University of the Ozarks
Clarksville, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Finance, General51%$13,60860%
12Lyon College
Batesville, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Finance, General47%$22,19963%
13Strayer University - Arkansas
Little Rock, AR Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Accounting and Business/Management$52,373

All 13 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.

All schools in Arkansas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of ArkansasFayettevillePublic4561
University of Central ArkansasConwayPublic601
Arkansas State UniversityJonesboroPublic351
Ouachita Baptist UniversityArkadelphiaPrivate not-for-profit281
University of Arkansas at Little RockLittle RockPublic202
University of Arkansas - Fort SmithFort SmithPublic193
Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellvillePublic171
Harding UniversitySearcyPrivate not-for-profit141
Williams Baptist UniversityWalnut RidgePrivate not-for-profit111
John Brown UniversitySiloam SpringsPrivate not-for-profit61
University of the OzarksClarksvillePrivate not-for-profit61
Lyon CollegeBatesvillePrivate not-for-profit21
Strayer University - ArkansasLittle RockPrivate for-profit11

What financial and investment analysts earn in Arkansas

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arkansas
$81,110
Mean annual
$90,430
Jobs in state
1,390
What the range looks like
10th pct$48,850Median$81,11090th pct$137,210
Versus the national median
-21.1%

U.S. median $102,740. Arkansas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.46×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Arkansas

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
$84,240median
630 jobs
Fort Smith, AR-OK
$82,300median
60 jobs
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
$81,320median
410 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+5.7%
Faster than average
Openings per year
25,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
21,100
368,500 → 389,600
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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 Financial and Investment Analysts page.

How to become a Financial

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.

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 9 majors mapped to Financial and Investment Analysts9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 27.0305Financial Mathematics
  • 30.7104Financial Analytics
  • 52.0304Accounting and Finance
  • 52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
  • 52.0801Finance, General
  • 52.0806International Finance
  • 52.0807Investments and Securities
  • 52.0808Public Finance
  • 52.0810Financial Risk Management

Common questions

Answers for people weighing financial and investment analysts programs in Arkansas.

What degree do you need to become a Financial?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 654 degrees in Arkansas in 2024-25, 96.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services, Accounting and Related Services. Together they graduate about 675 people a year in Arkansas.

How much do financial and investment analysts earn in Arkansas?+

The median is $81,110 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.1% below the U.S. median of $102,740. 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 financial and investment analysts growing?+

BLS projects a +5.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 25,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arkansas?+

13 institutions in Arkansas reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 financial and investment analysts work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Analyst, Financial Analyst, Investment Analyst, Securities Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2051.

Financial and Investment Analysts in other statesTexasFloridaPennsylvaniaNorth CarolinaNew YorkOhioMassachusettsIllinois

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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