Maria Markham

While Arkansas' colleges saw a slight increase in enrollment this fall, they are preparing for a period of decline as a result of a fall in birth rates after the 2008 financial crisis. read more >

The Arkansas Division of Higher Education is moving, but not very far. read more >

A recent college attendance dip in Arkansas doesn’t reflect the “enrollment cliff” that higher education leaders have harped about for years. It’s been more of a slow roll down to the edge. read more >

With Arkansas’ public colleges in historic financial distress, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale prescribed a bitter remedy this month — cuts deep enough to cost tenured professors their jobs — and state education leaders fear other state universities may have to take a dose. read more >

Arkansas colleges are planning for a return to the in-person classes that students want this fall, but they’re hedging their bets by preparing for another quick switch to online-only learning if the pandemic rages again. read more >

Maria Markham is Arkansas’ director of higher education. And higher ed has doggedly remained her focus through weeks of sheltering at home with “two 12-year-olds, two 8-year-olds and a 5-year-old.” read more >

Arkansas has been awarded a $2 million, four-year U.S. Department of Labor grant to provide more information technology training throughout the state. read more >

With record enrollment, Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia aims for $22 million in its "Love & Loyalty" capital campaign. read more >

The financial impact of the new outcomes-based state funding formula on individual Arkansas universities and colleges has been a mixed bag, but the program is having the desired effect, and overall funding has increased. read more >

Arkansas college and universities will have an incentive to move students from initial enrollment to graduation in the most efficient, effective and affordable way possible as a new funding formula takes effect in July. read more >

Runaway inflation in the health care sector is obvious to every American family, but when a kid heads to college, this fact hits home: The consumer cost of higher education has inflated even faster over the past quarter-century. read more >

Gov. Asa Hutchinson forms a blue ribbon commission to study how to grow the state's computer science and data analytics sector. The 19-member commission is co-chaired by Acxiom Corp. founder Charles Morgan and Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston. read more >

Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposal to create a grant that would pay for tuition and fees for students at Arkansas community or technical colleges failed to pass the Senate Education Committee in a 4-4 vote Wednesday read more >

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said his Arkansas Future Grant program is as much about giving students confidence to go to college as it is about giving them monetary support to do so. read more >

Arkansas legislators will fight in the 2017 session over education issues, particularly charter schools, but the governor has indicated he'll try to make part of their task easier. read more >

Gov. Asa Hutchinson suggests a way for high school graduates, home-school graduates and non-traditional students to learn skills without paying a dime. read more >

Maria Markham, the director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, said the metrics for the state’s new funding formula for colleges and universities should be finalized later this month. read more >

The Arkansas Department of Higher Education director search committee will recommend Maria Markham as the new director of the ADHE, the department announced Wednesday. read more >