Friday, November 21, 2008

Best Colleges

University of Oklahoma

Work 660 Parrington Oval Norman, OK 73019-0390
Work(405) 325-2252
Web site: http://www.ou.edu
  • 108Rank
  • 38Score
Tier 1
College Category:
National Universities

Overview : University of Oklahoma

General Information  
Institutional Control: Public
Year founded: 1890
Religious affiliation: N/A
Academic calendar: semester
Total number of undergraduates: 20,915
Setting urban
Endowment: $179,822,000
Fall Admissions  
Application deadline: 4/1
Application fee: $40
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 88.8 %
Selectivity: more selective
Expenses  
Costs: 2008-2009 In-state: $5,245; Out-of-state: $13,229
Mission  
School mission The University of Oklahoma is truly an extraordinary institution, known for its academic excellence and strong sense of community. Attracting top students from across the nation and more than 100 countries around the world, OU provides a major university experience in a private college atmosphere. OU is number one in the nation in the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled per capita among public universities. The OU Honors College is one of the largest honors programs among public universities in the United States, matching the University's best and brightest students with faculty in classrooms of 19 or fewer students. OU is one of the few public universities in the nation to cap the class size of first-year English composition courses at no more than 19. The University is first in the Big 12 and at the top in the nation in international exchange agreements with countries around the world with 171 student exchange agreements with universities in 60 countries. The number of endowed faculty positions has more than quadrupled since 1994, increasing from less than 100 to more than 480 today, helping to retain and attract talented faculty members. Just one year after launching a five-year Campaign for Scholarship endowments, we reached our goal of raising $50 million, allowing the university to award hundreds of new scholarships and ensuring that OU will remain affordable and keep open the door of opportunity for all qualified students. Because the need for scholarships remains high, the campaign goal was increased to $100 million to be raised by September 2009. In addition, OU's private endowment has increased more than five-fold since 1994, growing from $204 million to more than $1.1 billion. During the past decade, research expenditures have more than doubled at OU and sponsored research has grown at twice the national growth rate. In fiscal year 2006, OU set a new record high of $239 million in external funding for research and sponsored programs, more than $17 million above the previous year. Since 1995, almost $1.5 billion in construction projects have been completed, are under way or are forthcoming on OU's three campuses. OU is extraordinary, too, because of its excellent programs and resources. OU's two public museums, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, rank among the top university-based museums in the country. OU's Bizzell Memorial Library features the largest history of science collection in the world, and is the only place in the United States where you can hold a book with Galileo's handwriting in your own hands. There is a true sense of family on the OU campus. Serving as a model for other public universities, OU established the Faculty-In-Residence program which places faculty members and their families in each of our residence halls to foster faculty and student interaction and encourage intergenerational friendships. Further, a different professor adopts each floor of the residence halls as well as each fraternity and sorority, allowing students and faculty to build relationships outside of the classroom. These and other student-centered efforts were recently rewarded when OU was ranked in the top 10 universities in the nation in the Freshmen Year Experience, according to a national study by the Policy Center on the First Year of College.

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