An educated population makes a more attractive workforce. Well-educated workers likely have access to more economic opportunities than workers with less education. High educational attainment represents a region's investment in human capital and preparation for long-term growth.

In 2020-24, 89% of adults had at least a high school degree, up 2 percentage points from 2015-19 and 5 points from 2010-14. This makes Arkansas 43rd in the nation on this indicator, including the 50 states and Washington, D.C., but similar to the U.S as a whole. Rates were higher among White (91%), Black or African American (87%), and Asian adults (86%), than Hispanic adults (65%). Rates were slightly lower for men (87%) than women (90%).

There was some variation in rates across the state, with the lowest rates in Sevier and Desha counties (73% and 78%, respectively), and the highest rates in Faulkner, Saline and Cleveland counties all at 93%.

There are a variety of factors believed to contribute to disparities in graduation rates and other measures of student achievement. School systems in the United States are highly segregated, and students of color disproportionately attend schools with high proportions of low-income students who may not have benefited from early learning opportunities at the same rate as other students. Schools also have different levels of resources ranging from qualified/experienced teachers to advanced courses to facilities and technology, and schools with large Black and Latino populations often have lower levels. In addition, teachers across all school systems tend to be disproportionately white, and teaching practices and curriculum may not be culturally relevant to students of color.

Adults are people 25 and older. The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.