Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state and the westernmost HBCU in the United States. The main campus in Langston is a rural setting 10 miles (16 km) east of Guthrie. The University also serves an urban mission, with University Centers in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the state of Oklahoma. In Fall 2023, the university had 32,676 students enrolled, most at its main campus in Norman. Employing nearly 4,000 faculty members, the university offers 174 baccalaureate programs, 199 master's programs, 101 doctoral programs, and 88 certificate programs.
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originally known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, it is the flagship institution of the Oklahoma State University System that holds more than 35,000 students across its five campuses with an annual budget of $1.7 billion. The main campus enrollment for the fall 2019 semester was 24,071, with 20,024 undergraduates and 4,017 graduate students. OSU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, OSU spent $198.8 million on research and development in 2021.
The Oklahoma State University System is a university system comprising six educational institutes across Oklahoma: four general academic universities and two health institutions. Its flagship institute is the Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. The Oklahoma State University System has a total enrollment of about 34,568 students and is the largest university in the state of Oklahoma with an annual budget of $1.5 billion. The System also has Agricultural Experiment Stations throughout Oklahoma and Cooperative Extension offices that serve all 77 counties.
Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, is the newest institution of the Oklahoma State University System. It was previously the University Center at Tulsa until it became OSU-Tulsa on January 1, 1999. OSU-Tulsa is unique in the fact that it is not recognized as its own entity, but rather an extension of the main Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU-Tulsa works in conjunction with the main OSU campus and Tulsa Community College to provide Freshman and Sophomore level courses, enabling students to complete a four-year undergraduate course of study. Pamela Martin Fry was named the institution's third president and first female president in 2019.
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) is a public medical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It also has a branch campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Founded in 1972, OSU-CHS is part of the Oklahoma State University System. OSU-CHS offers a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and over fifteen other different graduate degrees.
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) is a public liberal arts college in Chickasha, Oklahoma. It is the only public college in Oklahoma with a strictly liberal arts–focused curriculum and is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. USAO is an undergraduate-only institution and grants bachelor's degrees in a variety of subject areas. The school was founded in 1908 as a school for women and from 1912 to 1965 was known as Oklahoma College for Women. It became coeducational in 1965 and today educates approximately 800 students. In 2001, the entire Oklahoma College for Women campus was listed as a national historic district.
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education is an agency of the state of Oklahoma located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
A university system is a set of multiple affiliated universities and colleges that are usually geographically distributed. Typically, all member universities in a university system share a common component among all of their various names. Usually, all member universities of a university system are governed by a system-wide governing body, such as a board of trustees or a board of regents. In the United States, many states have one or two state university systems under which many of their publicly funded universities are aligned, both in name and in governance. Additionally, for-profit universities, such as DeVry University, often have multiple campuses which share the same name; these may be, but are not always, described as a university system.
Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) is a public community college in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The college was founded in 1972 as South Oklahoma City Junior College. OCCC has a current enrollment of 18,549 students and is the second largest community college and the fifth largest public higher education institution in Oklahoma. OCCC operates a main campus and three satellite locations in the south metro. A large percentage of OCCC students join or rejoin the local workforce each year. Their added skills translate to earnings of more than $220 million in annual additional income to Oklahoma's economy.
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Oklahoma, located in Oklahoma City. The College of Medicine is part of the university's Health Sciences Center. It is one of only 150 medical schools in the United States that are fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the only one located in the state of Oklahoma.
The Tulsa metropolitan area, officially defined as the Tulsa metropolitan statistical area is a metropolis in northeastern Oklahoma centered around the city of Tulsa and encompassing Tulsa, Rogers, Wagoner, Osage, Creek, Okmulgee and Pawnee counties. It had a population of 1,034,123 according to the 2022 U.S. census estimates.
The Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame is an award given to individuals who, through their outstanding professional and personal achievements, have brought honor and distinction to career and technology education in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education is the agency of the government of Oklahoma that serves as the governing body of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, which is the largest provider of higher education in the state of Oklahoma. The State System consists of all institutions of higher education in Oklahoma that are supported by direct legislative appropriations from the Oklahoma Legislature.
Howard G. Barnett Jr. is an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma who is currently serving as the President of Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. Barnett previously served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce under Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating from 1998 to 1999. Keating appointed Barnett to serve concurrently as the Director of Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
Joe Anna Hibler is an American educator. Much of her career was spent teaching business at the university level. Retired from active teaching, she is the former president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), an inductee into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, and currently a regent of the Regional University System of Oklahoma.
Penny Baldwin Williams was an American Democratic Party politician from Oklahoma. Williams served as a legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988, representing District 70. She later was elected to the Oklahoma Senate, representing District 33, from 1989 to 2004. Senator Williams authored important bills on education during her time in the legislature, including the historic education reform act. Williams also authored a series of bills to strengthen math and science, and the bill creating the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. A supporter of the arts, Williams influenced art education in public schools, and was instrumental in the creation of the Art in Public Places Act.
Carolyn Thompson Taylor is an American academic and politician who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992. Before running for office, Taylor taught AP government at Norman High School from 1979 to 1984. While in the House, she was chair of the Education Committee and Appropriations Sub-Committee on Education. She was a principal author of numerous landmark education bills involving both Higher Education and Public Schools. She also authored legislation concerning health care for children and family leave. While in office she was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Oklahoma. After leaving office, Taylor was vice president of academic affairs at the University Center of Tulsa and later a distinguished professor of political science at Rogers State.
Pat Woodrum is the former executive director of the Tulsa City-County Library System, a position she served in for 32 years. Since retiring from the library system in 2008, Woodrum has served as the executive director of the Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden in Tulsa. Among numerous awards, Woodrum was inducted in the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
