Harding Bison

Harding University

Motto	"Community of Mission"
Type	Private
Established	1924
Affiliation	Churches of Christ
Endowment	$117.9 million
President	Bruce D. McLarty
Provost	Marty Spears
Academic staff	314
Students	5,904
Location	Searcy, Arkansas, U.S. 35°14′52″N 91°43′38″W / 35.24785°N 91.72711°W / 35.24785; -91.72711Coordinates: 35°14′52″N 91°43′38″W / 35.24785°N 91.72711°W / 35.24785; -91.72711
Campus	Suburban, 350 acres (140 ha)
Colors	Black and Gold
Nickname	Bisons
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – GAC
Website	www.harding.edu

Harding University is a private liberal arts university with its main campus located in Searcy, Arkansas, United States, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Little Rock, with other campuses located around the world. It is the largest private university in the state of Arkansas. Harding is one of several institutions of higher learning associated with the Churches of Christ.

Founded in Morrilton, Arkansas, in 1924, Harding College was named after James A. Harding, a minister and Christian educator associated with Churches of Christ. Harding College moved to the campus of the defunct Galloway Female College in Searcy, Arkansas, ten years later. Today, the university contains forty-nine buildings on its Searcy campus. It has satellite campuses in North Little Rock, Paragould, and Rogers as well. In addition, Harding boasts a number of international campuses around the globe: in Brisbane, Australia; Viña del Mar, Chile; London, England; Porto Rafti, Greece; Florence, Italy; France; and Namwianga Mission, Zambia. The university also maintains a School of Theology in Memphis, Tennessee. Furthermore, Harding operates Camp Tahkodah, a 1,350 acre camp in the Ozark mountains near Floral, Arkansas, and Harding Academy, also in Searcy. The fall 2017 student body of 5,541 students includes 4,185 undergraduate and 1,356 graduate students from forty-nine states (currently missing North Dakota) and fifty-four foreign nations and territories. The fall 2017 enrollment was bolstered by a freshman to sophomore retention rate of 82.5 percent.