Arkansas State University System

The Arkansas State University System, based in Little Rock, serves almost 40,000 students annually on campuses in Arkansas and Queretaro, Mexico, and globally online.

The Arkansas State University System includes Arkansas State University (A-State), a four-year research institution in Jonesboro with Campus Queretaro in Mexico, and four-year research institution, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, as well as five independently accredited and functionally separate two-year institutions: ASU-Beebe, with additional campuses in Heber Springs and Searcy and an instructional site at Little Rock Air Force Base; ASU-Newport, with additional campuses in Jonesboro and Marked Tree; ASU-Mountain Home; ASU Mid-South in West Memphis; ASU Three Rivers (formerly College of the Ouachitas) in Malvern. Act 18 of 2021 added Henderson State University, a four-year institution in Arkadelphia, to the ASU System and expanded the ASU System Board of Trustees to seven members.

Charles L. Welch serves as president of the ASU System at its administrative offices in Little Rock. The chancellors are Todd Shields at Arkansas State, Jennifer Methvin at ASU-Beebe, Johnny Moore at ASU-Newport, Bentley Wallace at ASU-Mountain Home, Debra West at ASU Mid-South, Steve Rook at ASU Three Rivers, and Chuck Ambrose at Henderson State. A seven-member Board of Trustees appointed by the governor governs the system.

The ASU System provides a wide range of degree and certificate programs, serves as a leading voice on state higher education issues, and supports significant programs for the state and region, including economic development initiatives, the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, and Arkansas heritage sites.

The mission of the ASU System is to contribute to the educational, cultural, and economic advancement of Arkansas by providing quality general undergraduate education and specialized programs leading to certificate, associate, baccalaureate, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees; by encouraging the pursuit of research, scholarly inquiry, and creative activity; and by bringing these intellectual resources together to develop the economy of the state and the education of its citizens throughout their lives.

The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved Arkansas State University's plan to launch a College of Veterinary Medicine in Jonesboro, and the university will now proceed with the national accrediting agencies associated with veterinary colleges.