OSU History

Oklahoma State University was founded on December 25, 1890, as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, just twenty months after the Land Run of 1889. When the first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891, there were no buildings, no books, and no curriculum.

In 1894, two and one-half years after classes began in local churches, 144 students moved into the first academic building, later known as Old Central, on the southeast corner of campus. In 1896, Oklahoma A&M held its first commencement with six male graduates.

Morrill Hall houses the English Department and the Collaborative Writing Computerized Classroom.

On July 1, 1957, Oklahoma A&M College became Oklahoma State University. Technical branches were established in Okmulgee in 1946 and in Oklahoma City in 1961. (In 1990 their names were changed to OSU-Okmulgee and OSU-Oklahoma City.) In July of 1988, the Oklahoma College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery (in Tulsa) became the College of Osteopathic Medicine of OSU. In 2001, it became part of the OSU Center for Health Sciences. In 1999, OSU-Tulsa formally began operation replacing what was a consortium campus managed by four universities.

Location

OSU-Stillwater is located in Stillwater, a north-central Oklahoma community with a population of more than 42,000. Stillwater is approximately 60 miles from the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metropolitan areas and is readily accessible from other major population centers by interstate highway and air.

OSU-Tulsa is located in Tulsa which is Oklahoma's second largest city with a population over half a million people.

Accreditation

Oklahoma State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (The HLC may be reached at 30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60601, phone (800) 621-7440. The Internet address is: http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/.)

Programs within each college may also be accredited by other agencies. Listings of individual program accreditations can be found in the OSU Catalog.

OSU Graduates

Although OSU is a large, comprehensive university, its size does not minimize the personal attention given to each student. Once the student has identified his or her major department, he or she becomes a very important individual to the faculty of that department. Because the average number of graduate students majoring in any one department is kept at a reasonable level, the student can count on personal attention in a friendly environment.

The size of the University has many distinct advantages. OSU's 1.5 million volume library, its modern research laboratories and equipment, excellent physical education, recreation and student union facilities, nationally recognized residence halls, and outstanding cultural events all provide a stimulating educational and social environment.

When the time comes for you to graduate, you will find that OSU's Career Services is committed to providing you with resources, workshops, and services to help you with your career decisions. Their offices attract top employers from around the state of Oklahoma and the nation.

North Murray near the center of campus houses the Department of Psychology

About the Graduate College

The University is coeducational and has an enrollment of approximately 23,000 students enrolled at the OSU-Stillwater and OSU-Tulsa campuses. The university offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a large number of fields, as well as the professional Doctorate of Osteopathy and Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degrees. A Specialist in Education degree is also offered. Graduate certificates are available in selected fields. OSU offers close to 200 graduate programs, options, and certificates.

From developing cutting edge technologies, new approaches to social challenges, diverse ways to involve students in learning and research, the innovation, scholarship, and creativity of graduate education at OSU continues to make a positive difference in our world. The Graduate College's mission is to enhance graduate education and research by providing services that support student recruitment, admission, retention, and graduation, and by promoting diversity and excellence in graduate students and graduate programs.

OSU continues to cultivate inclusiveness in its graduate student population. For example, according to the national Survey of Earned Doctorates, OSU grants more doctoral degrees to Native Americans than any other university in the country.