Robert W. Glover, a Missionary Baptist pastor who served in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature from Sheridan (1905–1912), introduced in 1909 the resolution calling for the establishment of four state agricultural colleges, including the future ASU.

The result of several years of growing both admission standards and increasing on-campus housing, A-State's incoming first-year first-time student composite ACT was 23.9 with an average high school GPA of 3.47 (Current freshman ACTs are 20-26 and the average high school GPA is 3.7[9]).

[citation needed] The university has more than 100,000 alumni and offers programs at the doctoral, specialist's, master's, bachelor's, and associate degree levels.

In the fall of 2016, Arkansas State enrolled the first class of approximately 115 students to its branch of the New York Institute of Technology's medical school.

Arkansas State is also home to KASU, a 100,000-watt FM station, which is the oldest NPR affiliate west of the Mississippi River.

In 2012, the Red Wolves football team became Sun Belt Conference champions for a second straight year, finishing the regular season with a 9–3 record, and capped off its successful season with its first bowl game victory since becoming a Division I-A (FBS) program with a 17–13 victory over Kent State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, as well as earning its first win over a ranked opponent since joining the FBS in 1992.

In 2013, the football team became the Sun Belt Conference champions for a third straight year, finishing with a 7–5 regular season record and won a second consecutive GoDaddy Bowl with a 23–20 victory over then 10-2 Ball State.