Admissions Standards

Freshman Admission

To apply for admission as an undergraduate at Southern Arkansas University, an entering freshman must submit the following:

1. Application for admission
2. ACT or SAT scores (Note: Waived thru Fall 2024) *Placement exam scores still required for placement purposes.
3. High school transcript or GED certificate showing graduation date

Transfer Student Admission

To apply for admission you must:

1. Fill out an application for admission
2. Have official transcripts from each educational institution previously attended sent to the Office of Admissions.
   • Official transcripts are those received by mail or electronically directly from the issuing institution.
3. Meet eligibility requirements, see “Transfer Student Eligibility”
4. If you plan on living on campus, fill out the housing application online and pay the $100 housing reservation fee.

Non-Traditional Students

Students who are 25 years of age or older are admitted regardless of their ACT scores. However, if they have not completed College Algebra and Comp I, they must submit ACT scores to determine whether they must take developmental courses.

Unconditional Admission

Beginning students who have ACT scores of 19 or higher on the English, mathematics, and reading parts of the ACT examination and who have, upon graduating from high school after May 1, 1997, completed the core curriculum with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale will be admitted unconditionally to Southern Arkansas University.

Conditional Admission

Beginning Students who do not qualify for unconditional admission but who have received a composite ACT score of 16 or higher or rank in the top quarter of their graduating class will be conditionally admitted to Southern Arkansas University.

Students admitted conditionally must take developmental courses in the subjects in which they scored lower than a 19 on the ACT examination. The four developmental courses are Fundamentals of Reading, Fundamentals of Writing, Fundamentals of Mathematics, and Intermediate Algebra. These students must successfully complete in a regular and consistent manner all developmental courses that they are required to take. Successful completion in a regular and consistent manner means that required developmental courses be taken each semester the student is registered. If two or more developmental courses are required, the student must register for at least two developmental courses during their first semester.

See the college catalog for additional details  for conditional students.

First-Time Freshman-GED, Home School, and Charter School Graduates

These students are admitted by virtue of their ACT/SAT scores as specified in the unconditional and conditional sections.