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Consumer Information

The following is a list of consumer information that Ouachita Baptist University is required by federal regulations to make available to you as a student or parent of a student.

 


 

Accreditation

Academic accreditation plays a vital role in colleges and universities maintaining and strengthening quality academic standards and practices. Ouachita Baptist University was first accredited by the Higher Learning Commission in 1927 and has held continuous accreditation since 1953.



View our full list of accreditations and memberships.

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Copyright Infringement

Reporting Allegations of Copyright Infringement:

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Ouachita Baptist University has designated an agent to whom you may send notice of alleged copyright infringement. If you believe your copyrighted work is being infringed in the obu.edu domain, please notify Ouachita’s designated agent via email or regular mail. The designated agent and his contact information is:

William R. Phelps
Chief Information Officer
Ouachita Baptist University
410 Ouachita Street
Arkadelphia, AR 71998
E-Mail: phelpswr@obu.edu
Phone: (870) 245-5567
Fax: (870) 245-5566

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Government Compliance

Ouachita Baptist University follows the provisions of the Higher Education Opportunity Act and other applicable federal and state laws to disclose information and reports on various aspects of the university’s policies, procedures, operations, and costs. For a complete list, see Summary of Consumer Information Required Disclosures.

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Non-Discrimination

Ouachita Baptist University complies will all applicable federal and state non-discrimination laws and does not engage in prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, nationality or ethnic group, gender, age, or disability in employment or the provision of services. The university is governed by an independent Board of Trustees and is operated within the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, a voluntary association of churches. As a Christ-centered institution of higher education, Ouachita is exempted from compliance with some provisions of certain civil rights laws, including some provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

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Notice to Persons with Disabilities

If you find any portion of Ouachita Baptist University’s online information or functionality inaccessible, please contact us via email at webmaster@obu.edu. The university will make every effort to provide the information in an accessible format. If you feel you are not receiving a needed accommodation, you have the right to file a grievance with Ouachita Baptist University. The grievance form can be submitted online and is found at http://obu.edu/about/complaintform.php.

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Privacy Statement

Ouachita Baptist University respects your privacy, and it is not our policy to sell personal information to third parties. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for the Ouachita Baptist University Public Website (http://obu.edu):

We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Web site by identifying which parts of our site are most heavily used, and which portion of our audience comes from within the Ouachita network. We do not link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable. This means that user sessions will be tracked, but the users will remain anonymous. Some of Ouachita's web services require cookies only to operate the pages.

This website uses the Google AdWords remarketing service to advertise on third party websites (including Google) to previous visitors to our site. It could mean that we advertise to previous visitors who haven’t completed a task on our site, for example using the contact form to make an enquiry. This could be in the form of an advertisement on the Google search results page, or a site in the Google Display Network. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the OBU website. Of course, any data collected will be used in accordance with our own privacy policy and Google’s privacy policy.

You can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Preferences page, and if you want to you can opt out of interest-based advertising entirely by cookie settings or permanently using a browser plugin.

Ouachita's staff uses the information gathered above to tailor site content to user needs, and to generate aggregate statistical reports. At no time do we disclose site usage by individual IP addresses. Web server logs are retained on a temporary basis and then deleted completely from our systems.

Information shared by individuals in inquiry and application forms is used solely by the respective departments to respond to the specific needs of the individual.

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Ouachita partners with Curbstone Corporation to process credit card information. Curbstone works to secure your information by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts information you input.

Ouachita Baptist University Homepage contains links to other independently run Web sites within the Ouachita network and to some sites outside the "obu.edu" domain. The public website is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites.

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, you can contact:

Ouachita Baptist University
IT Services - Web
OBU Box 3794
Arkadelphia, AR 71998
webmaster@obu.edu

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Standards of Conduct

All members of the Board of Trustees, administration, and faculty, as well as others representing Ouachita Baptist University, are expected to adhere to the highest standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity in pursuit of the university’s mission.

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Student Financial Services

College Navigator – Nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator

College Navigator is a free consumer information tool that guides, leads, and directs students, parents, high school counselors, and other interested parties to information about higher education institutions. The primary data source for College Navigator is IPEDS/Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

Cost of Attendance

Net Price Calculator

Ouachita Cost Information

Student Financial Aid

870.245.5570 or finaid@obu.edu

Ouachita Financial Aid Website

Scholarship Calculator for Incoming Freshmen

Student Loan Code of Conduct

Full code of conduct statement

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Student Outcomes Data

Since 2018, over 80% of all first-time, full-time residential freshman students returned to Ouachita for their sophomore year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Retention Rates

 

Over the past four reporting periods, the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS Graduation Rate data indicate that an average of 64% of first-time full-time freshman students at Ouachita graduate within six years.

Undergraduate Graduation Rates

In the most recent reporting period, the NCAA academic success rate for Ouachita student-athletes was 74%. (See Student-Athlete Graduation Rate Data, 2014-2015).

Career outcomes data is collected using the First-Destination Survey, which meets the guidelines of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

On average, 99% of Ouachita graduates who completed the First-Destination Survey reported a positive career outcome within six months of graduation.

The Career Outcomes Rate represents the percentage of graduates with a known positive career outcome, such as full-time employment, enrollment in a graduate program, or military service. The Knowledge Rate represents the percentage of graduates for whom outcomes are known.

4-year Outcomes Data

The 2020 Arkansas Department of Education’s Educator Preparation Provider Quality Report for Ouachita Baptist University includes rates for Ouachita teacher education candidates who took the PRAXIS licensure exams in 2018-2019. The pass rate was 100%.

ABA Graduation Rate

 

Dietetics Graduation Rate

 

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SUMMARY OF CONSUMER INFORMATION & REQUIRED DISCLOSURES

The following is a list of consumer information that Ouachita Baptist University is required by federal regulations to make available to you as a student or parent of a student. This document will give you a brief summary of the information available and at least one source for obtaining a full disclosure of the information.

  • Right to and procedures for inspecting and reviewing student’s education records
  • Right to and procedures for requesting amendment of student’s education records
  • Right to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in student’s education records
  • Right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education
  • Right to obtain a copy of the student records policy as it relates to FERPA


Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Handbook, Student Services office, Registrar’s office

  • Description of all available federal, state, local, private, and institutional financial need-based and non-need-based assistance programs, and for each program a description of:
    • Application form and procedures – Student eligibility requirements
    • Selection criteria – Criteria for determining the amount of a student’s award
  • Rights and responsibilities of student receiving Title IV and other financial aid
    • Criteria for continued eligibility
    • Satisfactory academic progress standards and criteria to re-establish eligibility if student fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress
    • Methods and frequency of financial aid disbursements
    • Terms of any loans received, sample loan repayment schedules, and the necessity for repaying loans – General conditions and terms applicable to any employment offered as part of student’s financial aid award

Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Financial Services office

Summary of Disclosures (As required by the Higher Education Act, 1998 Amendments)

  • Criteria for continued eligibility
  • Satisfactory academic progress standards and criteria to re-establish eligibility if student fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress
  • Methods and frequency of financial aid disbursements
  • Terms of any loans received, sample loan repayment schedules, and the necessity for repaying loans
  • General conditions and terms applicable to any employment offered as part of student’s financial aid award
  • Exit counseling information required to be provided for and to be collected from student borrowers of a FFEL or federal Perkins loan

Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Financial Services office

  • Cost of attending the University Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Financial Services office
  • Refund policies Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Financial Services office
  • Requirements for officially withdrawing from the University Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Handbook, Student Services office
  • Summary of requirements for the return of Title IV grant or loan assistance by withdrawn students Source of information: Academic Catalog, Student Financial Services office
  • Information regarding the University’s academic programs Source of information: Academic Catalog, Vice President for Academic Affairs office
  • Entities that accredit, license, or approve the University and its programs and procedures for reviewing the University’s accreditation, licensing, or approval documentation Source of information: Academic Catalog, President’s office
  • Description of any special services and facilities for disabled students Source of information: Student Support Services office, Student Services office
  • Title and availability of employee(s) responsible for dissemination of institutional and financial assistance disclosure information and how to contact them

Source of information: Director of Student Financial Services, available during regular office hours, e-mail finaid@obu.edu

  • Statement that enrollment in a study abroad program approved for credit may be considered enrollment at the school for the purpose of applying for Title IV assistance

Source of information: International Studies Program website/Student Financial Services

Completion or graduation rate of cohort of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time undergraduates who graduated or completed their program within 150% of the normal time for graduation or completion

Source of information: Academic Catalog, Registrar’s office, Compliance Office

  • Statistics for three most recent calendar years concerning the occurrence on campus, in or on non-campus buildings or property, and public property of certain offenses reported to campus security authority or local police
  • Policies regarding procedures to report crimes committed on campus, criminal actions or other emergencies, and the University’s response to such
  • Policies concerning the security of and access to campus facilities
  • Policies concerning campus law enforcement

Source of information: Student Development

  • Number of male and female full-time undergraduates
  • Statistics regarding varsity teams that compete in intercollegiate athletic competitions
  • Unduplicated number of students, by gender, who participated on at least one varsity team as of the date of the first scheduled contest
  • Institutional revenues derived from and attributable to the University’s intercollegiate athletic programs
  • Incurred expenses attributable to the University’s intercollegiate athletic programs
  • Total spent on athletics-related student aid awarded to men and to women
  • Aggregate total recruiting expenses for men’s teams and for women’s teams
  • Average annual institutional salary of non-volunteer coaches and assistant coaches (across all sports) of all men’s and women’s teams on a per person and per full-time basis

Source of information: Director of Athletics

  • Number of students, by race and gender, who attended the school during the prior year
  • Number of students, by race and gender within each sport, who attended the school during the prior year and received athletics-related student aid
  • Completion or graduation rate, by race and gender, of cohort of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time undergraduates who graduated or completed their program within 150% of the normal time for graduation or completion
  • Completion or graduation rate, by race and gender within each sport, of cohort of certificate- or degree-seeking, fulltime undergraduates who received athletics-related student aid and graduated or completed their program within 150% of the normal time for graduation or completion
  • Average completion or graduation rate, by race and gender, for the four most recent graduating classes of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time undergraduates who graduated or completed their program within 150% of the normal time for graduation or completion
  • Average completion or graduation rate, by race and gender within each sport, for the four most recent graduating classes of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time undergraduates who received athletics-related student aid and graduated or completed their program within 150% of the normal time for graduation or completion

Source of information: Director of Athletics

All Ouachita Baptist University students, faculty and staff are required to complete Title IX training each year, with Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers and informal resolution process facilitators receiving additional specialized training. View this year’s training programs at: http://www.trainedsolutions.com/portfolio-item/title-ix-update-final-regulations/.

For additional questions or concerns related to Title IX, see the “Questions, Concerns and Complaints” information below.

 

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Questions, Concerns and Complaints

Questions, Concerns and Complaints

Ouachita Baptist University takes seriously all questions, concerns and complaints it receives, and responds in a timely fashion. These should be initiated and resolved through regular university processes whenever possible. Some matters may be directed to the University Compliance Officer who will refer them to the appropriate department or official. Please use the university’s toll-free telephone number, 1.800.342.5628, or e-mail consumerinfo@obu.edu.

Sexual Harassment Complaints

Complaints of sexual harassment or assault should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator by completing an online form or by telephone through the toll-free number listed above.

Other Complaints

Procedures for filing complaints and concerns, including student and constituent complaints, are outlined in the Ouachita Baptist University Complaint Policy. The policy includes instructions for seeking informal resolution of concerns, filing student academic appeals and registering formal complaints with the Ouachita Baptist University Complaint Form. Additional information and procedures concerning specific complaints and grievances may be found in the Faculty-Staff ManualTiger Handbook and university catalogs (General Catalog and Ouachita Online Catalog).

Unresolved complaints associated with Ouachita’s compliance with academic program quality and accrediting standards may be directed to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) through their complaint process.

Ouachita is authorized by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education. Questions or unresolved complaints related to state standards or state-sponsored financial aid may be directed to their complaint form.

Distance Education Students

Students receiving online instruction may use the toll-free number or email address listed in the first section above to register any complaints. If unresolved after following the university’s internal process, students may submit a written complaint to the Arkansas Division of Higher Education by completing the ADHE complaint form.

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Next Steps

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