U of O Ranked Best Value in South for Third Consecutive Year

For the third consecutive year and fourth time in the last five years, University of the Ozarks has been ranked the No. 1 Best Value in the South Region in U.S. News & WorldReport's annual college rankings.

In the 2026 edition of U.S. News and World Report'sBest Colleges, released on Tuesday, U of O ranked first in the "Best Value Schools" category among the nearly 100 regional colleges in the 12-state South. The value rankings evaluate the cost of attending a university relative to the quality of the institution and takes into account such things as the percentage of students receiving need-based financial aid and the average institutional aid those students receive.

"We are honored to once again be recognized as the top Best Value university in our region," said U of O President Richard Dunsworth. "We know the investment families make in higher education is significant. This ranking reflects our on-going commitment to making a high-quality, personalized education both accessible and affordable. It affirms the work of our dedicated faculty and staff and the transformative opportunities we strive to provide every student, regardless of background."

The magazine's annual late summer publication that analyzes institutions of higher education also had Ozarks ranked sixth in overall rankings among South Regional Colleges.

Ozarks has been ranked among the top 10 in the South Region in each of the past 10 years. The overall rankings examine such criteria as academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Ozarks was also ranked No. 1 in the Best Value category in the 2022, 2024 and 2025 rankings and was ranked No. 2 in the category in the 2023 rankings.

In addition, Ozarks is ranked No. 47 in Social Mobility in the South Region. This category represents those colleges that are most successful "at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants. The vast majority of these federal grants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000," according to the magazine.

The publication's South Region consists of primarily undergraduate colleges and universities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia.

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