Welcome to University of the Ozarks! We are a private, liberal arts based university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our picturesque 30-acre campus is located in Clarksville, Arkansas, about 100 miles west of Little Rock and about 60 miles east of Fort Smith and the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.
University of the Ozarks was founded in 1834 by the Cumberland Presbyterians as Cane Hill School at Cane Hill, Arkansas. In 1891, Cane Hill College closed operations and its successor, Arkansas Cumberland College, was established in Clarksville, Arkansas. In 1920, the name was changed to The College of the Ozarks, and in 1987 the school achieved full university status and was renamed University of the Ozarks.
The University has always had a relationship with the Presbyterian Church. At one time, the college was owned by the Oklahoma-Arkansas Synod of the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 1960, the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) assumed ownership and operating responsibility for the college. When the board of National Missions relinquished its relationship to its mission colleges in 1973, an elected Board of Trustees assumed administrative responsibility and ownership. This Board receives continued spiritual and financial support from the Synod of the Sun, which consists of churches in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
Throughout its history, University of the Ozarks has consistently provided personal, creative, student-oriented innovation in private education. It has also preserved its history of dedication to Christian values and service and of personal concern by the faculty for the full development of each student. Ozarks was often ahead of her time -- over the years Ozarks was:
- The first co-educational school west of the Mississippi River.
- The first college in Arkansas to graduate a woman (1872).
- The first historically white college to admit an African-American (1957).
Ozarks was also the first institution of higher education to provide support to students with learning disabilities, with the opening of the Jones Learning Center. Starting in 1971 with a handful of students and few dedicated faculty members, the program has grown to accomodate 90 students in the impressively equipped and staffed Jones Learning Center.
In September of 1991, the University celebrated its centennial year at its current location on College Hill and now, almost twenty years later, Ozarks is stronger than ever before. In keeping with the legacy of our rich history, we believe that our current educational environment is second to none.
