
Little Rock, ARprivate nonprofitbhclr.edu
Admit rate has ranged 50%–100% over the last 4 years — notably volatile. Source: IPEDS via Urban Institute.
Acceptance & SAT from Common Data Set / IPEDS; net price, earnings & graduation from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~1–2 years — verify with the school.
Baptist Health College Little Rock is a singular institution: a century-old, single-purpose healthcare college embedded directly within Arkansas's largest hospital system. This isn't a place for a liberal arts exploration; it's a direct, high-stakes pipeline into the medical workforce, where the campus is the hospital and success is measured in near-perfect board exam pass rates. With an admissions approach that is overwhelmingly open and a student body that is almost 90% female, BHCLR operates with the urgent, practical focus of a mission-critical training center.
Test scores required
Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.
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Outcomes & value
Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.
U.S. Dept. of Education Financial Responsibility Composite Score (FY2022-23). Scale −1.0 to 3.0; ≥1.5 meets the standard. Reported for private nonprofit & for-profit institutions only — public universities are state-backed and not scored, so this is a stability signal, not a ranking.
Campus & location
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
The gate here is wide open, not guarded. Baptist Health College Little Rock maintains an of 95%, a figure that reflects its open-admission characteristics and mission to train healthcare workers for the region. For a recent cycle, the college reported 21 admissions from 22 applications, though applicant numbers have been growing significantly—by 46.7% in one period. The process is straightforward, with applications opening for specific entry terms like January 2027, and the admissions office is the primary point of contact. While the college is considered open admission, admitted students often present standardized test scores in the mid-range; typical ACT composites are around 21, with SAT scores often between 930 and 1140. The student body is heavily skewed toward women, with a gender distribution of approximately 89% female and 11% male. The college has seen strong enrollment growth, recently reaching its highest fall enrollment in five years with 684 students, a 15% increase from the previous fall.
Academic life is hyper-focused, pragmatic, and entirely oriented toward credentialing for immediate employment. BHCLR offers ten programs of study across healthcare fields, including one-year certificates, two-year associate degrees, and other specialized tracks. The curriculum is not about exploration but certification. Popular and central programs include:
The college is an accredited and established leader in healthcare education, and its academic outcomes are its primary marketing tool. Success is defined almost exclusively by performance on professional board exams, not by a broad liberal arts foundation.
Founded in 1920, BHCLR has a long history, but student life is defined by its integration with the Baptist Health system. The campus community is intimately connected to the hospital environment, emphasizing professional development from day one. The college provides dedicated student success resources that reflect this career-first mentality, offering guides on professional email etiquette, résumé building, interview success, and even sleep hygiene and social media awareness—all geared toward creating employable healthcare professionals. The community is promoted through viewbooks and online connections, but the vibe is less about traditional collegiate social activities and more about immersion in a clinical, professional setting.
This is where BHCLR's model proves its worth. The college exists to produce graduates who pass their licensing exams and enter the workforce, and by that measure, it excels. The most recent data shows exceptional first-time pass rates on critical board exams: traditional nursing students achieved a 95.8% pass rate on the NCLEX-RN, while practical nursing graduates hit 96.08%. These results are a point of major celebration and institutional pride. The six-year graduation rate is reported at 67%. For graduates, the payoff is a direct path into the healthcare field with strong earning potential.
Financing an education here involves navigating a mix of grants, loans, and institutional scholarships. A significant majority of undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid, with 39% benefiting from federal Pell grants for demonstrated financial need. Aid packages commonly include federal grants (received by 44% of students, averaging about $6,446), state/local grants (33%, averaging $667), and institutional grants (22%, averaging $2,377). Loans are also a common component, with 33% of students borrowing an average of $8,458. The college offers its own academic scholarship of $500 for the first semester to students who meet minimum test score criteria (an ACT composite of 24 or a minimum TEAS score). Federal student loans are available and are not strictly based on financial need, but students must be enrolled at least half-time to qualify. The financial aid office operates standard business hours, and payment plans are available to help manage costs.
BHCLR stands out because it is not trying to be a traditional college. It is a highly specialized, mission-driven professional school that functions as an arm of the Baptist Health system. Its identity is clearest in three areas: its open-access admissions philosophy that seeks to widen the pipeline into healthcare; its relentless focus on licensure outcomes, with board pass rates that rival or exceed those of many universities; and its complete integration with a major hospital network, which blurs the line between classroom and clinic. This creates a unique value proposition—minimal fuss to get in, a curriculum with zero extraneous coursework, and a near-guarantee of being job-ready with a credential that has immediate currency in Arkansas's largest healthcare employer. For a student certain about a career in nursing or allied health, it represents one of the most direct and efficient routes from applicant to employed professional in the region.