• 2025 Razorbug Diploma Tour •

Studying Where Her Heart Is: De Queen Woman’s Path Back Home

Halle Harp is a young woman with a strong sense of place — so strong that she found a way to be a Razorback while staying rooted in her hometown of De Queen.

She grew up in the Sevier County town of about 6,000 people along the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma. She graduated from De Queen High School. She earned an associate’s degree from the University of Arkansas Cossatot on the De Queen campus.

So, after she moved about 190 miles north to Fayetteville seeking a four-year degree, she began to wonder if there was a way to get that degree from her home. She discovered that, yes, the University of Arkansas offers degree programs delivered online and she could return home and still be a Razorback.

In fact, the U of A offers more than 100 degrees, licensure programs and certificates delivered online. Harp accepted a framed diploma during the Razorbug Diploma Tour this summer, which spotlighted successful online students.

 

Changing Paths

Harp found, for her, attending class in Fayetteville wasn’t a good fit. And, she was already taking online classes while enrolled on campus. Harp was surprised at how simple the switch was to make.

“Eventually, I just asked an adviser how easy it would be to completely switch online,” she said. “And I realized that would be much more suitable for my schedule. So, I switched online and then moved home for my last two years.”

Harp changed her major in order to make the switch and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing delivered online by the Sam M. Walton College of Business this past May. She’s done an internship in marketing the past four summers with Gregg Orr Auto Collection, which has several locations in southwest Arkansas. She’s had a strong role model in her mother, Blaire, who works as director of marketing and business development for Gregg Orr.

 

Razorbug Visit

U of A faculty and staff took the Razorbug Diploma Tour from Fayetteville to the community college at De Queen on June 19 to celebrate Harp’s accomplishments with her family and friends. It was the third stop on the tour during two weeks in June. The tour gives graduates of degree programs delivered online a chance to describe their paths to success so that others who are interested can better understand the journey.

When the little red Volkswagen Beetle – complete with curly tail, razor spine, snout with tusks, and hooves – parked in front of a bus with the UA Cossatot Colt emblazoned on it, it marked more than a diploma delivery. It celebrated the power of online learning to connect students to their goals, no matter where they live. Molly Jensen, teaching associate professor of marketing, was there to present Harp’s framed diploma to her.

The average age of a student in a program delivered online is 31 for undergraduates and 35 for graduate students, according to the Global Campus annual report. At 22, Harp is part of a growing demographic of younger people who choose to study in an online program. She’s engaged to be married later this year to a local man, and she plans to seek a real estate license, too.

“This is home,” she said. “I think it'll always be home. I'm hoping that I'm lucky enough to stay here.”

Later that day, Harp worked with a videographer at Gregg Orr to shoot a commercial for the company she helps with marketing.

 

Success Online

Studying in a program delivered online requires discipline and time management, Harp said, qualities she improved through her experience. A few of her classes at UA Cossatot were online, which helped with the transition, she said.

“You had to wake up and sit at your computer,” she said. “You didn’t have to go to a class. So, you needed to make your own schedule. Or none of it would get done. I think it actually helped me a lot learning how to be good with time management.”

A program delivered online suited her well, Harp said.

“I think it set me up for success,” she said. “I think that it was easy, and it was a good learning experience. It was easy in the sense that I understand how all types of things on the computer work. And it really got me ready for the job that I'm doing this summer.”

Harp did not hesitate to contact professors when she wanted help.

“I emailed all the time,” she said. “I would email over small things and big things. And, normally they answer really fast. I never had any problems with that, either. A lot of the times you would email your professor and say, ‘Hey, I'm needing help understanding this,’ and they would just explain it all over again to the whole class. So, it helped me and I'm hoping it helped other people.”

Harp also suggests prospective students look at all the options available to them.

“I didn't know I could finish my degree completely online,” she said. “I wasn't aware that that was an attainable option. But it was and I'm so happy I did find out about that because it was so just easy to navigate my life and work around my schedule while doing it online.”