Arkansas
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Arkansas at China’s rate would graduate 5,227 engineers a year. It graduates 1,147.
Arkansas produces 1,147 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 15,744 total, among the weakest engineering producers in the country, from 15 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 5,227. Output is growing (+6.4% over three years). Gap Score: 22% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 2,440 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 57% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Arkansas is missing 4,080 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 8x the annual output of University of Arkansas.
Where Arkansas’s engineers are made.
15 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Arkansas. The top 8 account for 92% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Arkansas | 544 | 10.4% |
| 2 | Arkansas Tech University | 130 | 12.4% |
| 3 | University of Central Arkansas | 89 | 5.7% |
| 4 | Harding University | 80 | 10.9% |
| 5 | Arkansas State University | 67 | 3.7% |
| 6 | University of Arkansas at Little Rock | 63 | 6.5% |
| 7 | Southern Arkansas University Main Campus | 52 | 8.9% |
| 8 | John Brown University | 32 | 9.8% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Arkansas's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 460 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 250 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 240 |
| Industrial Engineers | 140 |
| Civil Engineers | 120 |
| Surveying and Mapping Technicians | 120 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Arkansas labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Arkansas's steel, data center and F-35 projects need engineers
Arkansas's industrial strategy rests on steel in Mississippi County, hyperscale data centers on the Delta and a foreign F-35 pilot training center at Fort Smith, backed by a 2025 permitting and tax package written to land them. Earlier projects that failed left little behind: Canoo, the EV maker that once put its headquarters in Bentonville, filed for Chapter 7 in January 2025.
The drain.
The University of Arkansas is the state's main producer of engineers, but only about half its employed graduates take jobs in Arkansas, and out-of-state students almost all leave. Northwest Arkansas's answer has been to pay people from elsewhere to move in.
Sources: University of Arkansas Class of 2024 Career Outcomes Report; Northwest Arkansas Council, FindingNWA
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Arkansas.
Attach engineering seats to the IMPACT incentives
The Generating Arkansas Jobs Act and Act 548's data center tax exemption carry no obligation to build engineering talent in Arkansas. Condition those breaks on funded Digital ROTC seats: the state covers tuition and fees at a two-year college, and the graduate serves a set term at an Arkansas site. A $4 billion campus can fund thousands of seats without moving the deal.
Fund the deans' coalition
The Arkansas Engineering Deans Coalition already maintains a statewide inventory of engineering and computer science capacity across eleven campuses, and the U of A is launching Vision 2035 to raise graduate numbers. Put service-for-tuition slots into that structure so Arkansas Tech, UA Little Rock, A-State and UA Fort Smith each carry a share, instead of leaning on Fayetteville alone.
Pay Arkansas students to stay
Northwest Arkansas drew 66,000 applicants by offering $10,000 to remote workers employed outside the state, 65% with no tie to the region. Turn the same money toward Arkansas community college students who commit to service at Osceola, West Memphis, Camden or Fort Smith, and route Google's 10,000-person AI training pledge through those cohorts rather than one-off certificates.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Arkansas, 18% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.