Harding University Overview
Located in Searcy, Arkansas, Harding University is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of Harding is a good match for students who are interested in living in a college town while they pursue their degree.
What Is Harding University Known For?
- The 4% student loan default rate at Harding is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Harding.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 81% of the faculty were full-time.
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Harding University Rankings
Out of the 29 colleges in Arkansas, Harding is ranked at #5.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Harding has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#4 | Best Value Colleges for Education | College Factual |
#7 | Best Value Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#9 | Best Value Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | College Factual |
#16 | Best Value Colleges for Business, Management & Marketing | College Factual |
#26 | Best Colleges for Education | College Factual |
#42 | Best Colleges for Teacher Education Grade Specific | College Factual |
Where Is Harding University?

Contact details for Harding are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 915 E. Market Ave., Searcy, AR 72149-5615 |
Phone: | 501-279-4000 |
Website: | www.harding.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/HardingU |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/HardingU |
How Do I Get Into Harding?
You can apply to Harding online at: www.harding.edu/admissions/howtoapply.html
Admission Requirements for Harding
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Harding?
Approximately 44% of accepted students are men and 56% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 72%, and the acceptance rate for women is 73%.
Average Test Scores
About 28% of students accepted to Harding submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 530 and 650. Math scores were between 520 and 630.
Can I Afford Harding University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Harding, approximately 59% of students took out student loans averaging $7,378 a year. That adds up to $29,512 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Harding is 3.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Harding University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 1,147 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,742 full-time undergraduates at Harding, 46% are male and 54% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Harding University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 31 |
Black or African American | 145 |
Hispanic or Latino | 139 |
White | 3,066 |
International Students | 221 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 140 |
Geographic Diversity
Arkansas students aren't the only ones who study at Harding University. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 57 countries are represented at Harding. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Honduras, and Guatemala.
Online Learning at Harding University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Harding has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 14th most popular in Arkansas for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of Harding
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Harding University was -9.0%. This is the #2,563 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Harding regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Harding majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Educational Administration | 4% |
Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 13% |
Nursing | 3% |
Romance Languages | 13% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Harding ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Harding.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Fine & Studio Arts | #31 | |
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries | #44 | |
Other Education | #51 | |
Student Counseling | #60 | |
Teaching English or French | #64 | |
Biblical Studies | #65 | |
Theological & Ministerial Studies | #109 | |
Health & Physical Education | #117 | |
Visual & Performing Arts | #125 | |
General Education | #129 | |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | #134 | |
Instructional Media Design | #138 | |
Curriculum & Instruction | #153 | |
Theology & Religious Vocations | #163 | |
Special Education | #212 | |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #230 | |
Educational Administration | #285 | |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #331 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Harding University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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