Compare the best BSN, MSN, ADN, and RN programs in Arkansas. Tuition costs, NCLEX pass rates, accreditation, and unique program highlights for prospective nursing students.
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Nursing Programs in Arkansas
UAMS College of Nursing is Arkansas's flagship health sciences university nursing program, located on a campus that includes a major academic medical center, children's hospital, and cancer institute.
A-State's nursing program is known for producing practice-ready nurses who serve Northeast Arkansas and the Mid-South region. The program has strong community health and rural nursing components.
Flagship nursing school in Arkansas with extensive clinical network across the state
Regional university with strong rural health emphasis and simulation center
Affordable ADN with direct transfer pathways to BSN programs
Workforce-focused LPN program in south Arkansas with strong job placement
Family NP track with rural health focus; strong preceptor network in central Arkansas
Arkansas centers its healthcare on the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, the state's only academic health center, along with Baptist Health and CHI St. Vincent. Demand is steady across the Little Rock metro, Northwest Arkansas's fast-growing Fayetteville-Bentonville corridor, and the state's many rural communities.
Students can pursue affordable community and technical college ADN programs, BSN degrees at public universities and private institutions, accelerated second-degree options, and RN-to-BSN bridges plus MSN tracks for advanced practice and leadership. The community-college route makes RN licensure broadly accessible across Arkansas.
Licensure is handled by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing. Arkansas is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so an RN or LPN license issued to an Arkansas resident is a multistate license valid across all compact states — practical for nurses near the many surrounding compact states.
Licensing authority: Arkansas State Board of Nursing.