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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 new 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.
Location
OSU 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.
The University is coeducational and has an enrollment of approximately 26,000 students on its four campuses. It offers bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees in a large number of fields, as well as the professional Doctor of Osteopathy and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees. Specialist in Education degrees are also offered in selected fields.
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 are also accredited by other agencies. Complete listings of program accreditations can be found in the Graduate College section of the OSU Catalog.
OSU Graduates
Although OSU is a large, comprehensive university, its size does not minimize the personal attention given to each student. The individual is more than just a number at this university. OSU encourages all students, when they first enroll, to identify the college in which they wish to major. Once the student has identified his or her major department, he or she becomes a very important individual to the faculty and advisers of that department. Because the average number of students majoring in any one department is less than 150, 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 programs, outstanding cultural events, and 36 nationally affiliated fraternities and sororities all provide a stimulating educational and social environment.
North Murray near the center of campus houses the Department of Psychology, Psychological Services Center, and the University Testing & Evaluation Service
About the Graduate College
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. Our 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 programs.
Oklahoma State University offers over 170 graduate programs and options, with 60 at the doctoral level and 110 at the master's level. Total graduate student enrollment in the fall of 2003 was 4,591.
The Graduate College earned distinction in 1997 by receiving the Peterson's Award for its Graduate Plan to Enhance Diversity. OSU has continued to cultivate inclusiveness in its graduate student population, progressing from minority students representing 11% of total domestic graduate enrollment in 1996 to 16% of domestic graduate enrollment in 2002. According to the national Survey of Earned Doctorates, OSU grants more doctoral degrees to Native Americans than any other university in the country.
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