Five of the six largest public universities in the state reported decreases in average net price, a measure of college affordability for first-time enrollees who take classes full-time.
The average net price estimates the true cost of attending college, factoring in expenses like housing and common types of grant aid.
Data published this month at CollegeNavigator.gov shows cost estimates for the 2020-21 academic year, when five of the largest universities in Arkansas held the line on tuition and fees. The other, the University of Central Arkansas, raised them by 1.8% that year, according to data from the state Division of Higher Education.
But the University of Central Arkansas also reported a year-over-year decrease of 12.5% in average net price. The average net price for the Conway campus dipped to $14,042, the lowest since the 2016-17 academic year, when the school's average net price was reported as $14,005.
A spokeswoman for the Conway campus did not respond to questions about the decrease.
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville saw its average net price fall about 9.2% to $15,218 as students received, on average, more grant aid, a spokesman said.
"A large increase in institutional aid, bolstered by the first year of $5 million in additional scholarship support for Arkansans, reduced the average net price for students," UA-Fayetteville spokesman Mark Rushing said in an email.
Rushing said the average aid award increased to $8,902 in 2020-21. The National Center for Education Statistics tracks the figure, but data for 2020-21 had not yet been published.
UA-Fayetteville also takes part in what's known as the Common Data Set, self-reporting an average award of $8,807 in 2020-21 to a group of 1,659 first-time, full-time freshmen awarded aid and considered to have financial need. The calculation was based on aid from any source, excluding federal coronavirus relief grants.
This increased from a year earlier, when $7,644 on average went to 1,668 first-time, full-time freshmen awarded aid and considered to have financial need, according to UA's self-reported Common Data Set.
Rushing also said the 2020-21 academic year saw a shift in housing choices made by students that reduced costs.
"A higher percentage of freshmen lived at home for the 2020-21 academic year than during previous years, reducing the cost of attendance. Students living with parents have a lower cost of attendance, as their room and board is half that of students living on campus," Rushing said.
Ahead of the 2020-21 academic year, UA allowed incoming students to cite concerns about covid-19 if seeking an exemption from a policy that generally requires freshmen to live on campus.
Among factors at other schools, a spokesman for Arkansas State University explained a decrease of about 5% as resulting from the university reporting costs for 12 credit-hour semesters in 2020-21 instead of 15 credit-hour semesters in 2019-20.
Arkansas State University had an average net price of $13,560 in 2020-21.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock reported an average net price of $11,901, a decrease of about 2.7% compared to a year earlier. Arkansas Tech University's net price dipped to $11,097, down about 1.6% compared to the previous year.
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith reported its average net price rising about 4.9% to $9,663 compared with 2019-20.
David H. Feldman, a William & Mary economics professor who has written about the cost of college, said differences in family wealth make a university's average net price meaningless for any one student.
Families in the top 10% of income distribution in Arkansas likely pay full tuition and fees, for example, he said.
"On the other hand, if you're from the bottom end of the income distribution, the average net price is probably more than you'll have to pay," he added.
Feldman linked trends in average net price to state funding for higher education and the quality of a college's education.
When average net price goes down, Feldman said "one of two things has to be happening."
"Either state appropriations have to be going up to compenstate, or, if they're not, something has to happen to the quality of the education, unless you think there is incredible fat in the budgets."
He referred to data from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association -- an organization whose membership includes the Arkansas Division of Higher Education -- showing that per-student education appropriations have decreased in Arkansas since 1986.
"It has largely been a roller coaster downhill ever since," Feldman said.
Feldman said that in higher education, "there are a lot of pressures building up," with some colleges and universities relying more on lower-paid adjunct and faculty members not eligible for tenure to teach their students. As a result, classes that students need to complete their degrees can be overstuffed or not even available, he said.
"What I worry about going forward is the increasing bifurcation of our higher education system into haves and have-nots," Feldman noted.