Arkansas In Bottom Ten of Best States for Higher Education List

I'm sure our Arkansas alum will fight this one to the death.

I will always look back at my college years fondly. Those were some of the best years of my life and I would recommend the college experience to anyone, no matter their age. However, I know that higher education can be quite expensive.

Some states are better suited for college than others.

SmartAsset broke this down again for the fourth year in their annual "Top States for Higher Education" list. There were five specific factors that went into determining the best states for furthering your education; "student-to-faculty ratio, average net price, undergraduate graduation rate, in-state attendance rate and the 20-year return on investment."

Arkansas came in at number 45 on the list.

Aside from the bottom-ten ranking, SmartAsset also awarded Arkansas with a failing grade. Much of it has to do with our average 43% graduation rate, which is below the national average (52%), and a relatively small return on investment number, $211,027 over 20 years. Many of the top states surpassed the $400,000-mark for ROI and the national average is $314,785.