Apply to Arkansas colleges with AR ACCESS
AR ACCESS is Arkansas's statewide college application, starting with the Class of 2027. You fill out one application and send it to the participating Arkansas colleges you choose, and if you meet a college's baseline admission requirements, you're provisionally admitted. That saves our seniors a lot of repeated forms!
Submissions opened Thursday, October 1, 2026. Each college sets its own deadline, so look up every college on your list in Explore Colleges and write its deadline down.
Before you start
Register with a personal email address, because the portal won't accept your sdale.org school email.
What it costs
The application fee is waived on up to 5 applications you send through AR ACCESS.
7 steps to apply
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Register for a student account.
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Build your profile.
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Claim your identity in the Trust Center. This connects your account to your Arkansas high school transcript, so your transcript is handled automatically.
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Review your My AR ACCESS application and make sure everything is correct and complete.
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Choose your colleges in Explore Colleges.
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Add any documents your colleges ask for, such as recommendation letters, to My Backpack.
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Submit your application.
If you've already registered, log in and pick up where you left off.
After you submit
You'll get an email confirming your application went through. Check your status in the portal now and then in case a college needs another document from you. Once a college provisionally admits you, it sends a Next Action Steps letter that explains how to set up your account with that college.
Getting help
Your house counselor can help with any step, including registering if you haven't yet. Find yours on our Meet the Counselors page. For a login or account problem inside the portal, email the AR ACCESS support team at ARAccessPortal@ade.arkansas.gov.
Parents and guardians, the portal's Resources Toolkit has a Parents User Guide written for you.