The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education approved today $776.7 million in state appropriations for the state system of higher education for FY 2019.
“We thank Gov. Fallin and our legislative leaders for programming an additional $7.5 million for the concurrent enrollment program for FY 2019 during a difficult budget year,” said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson. “Nearly 12,000 high school students are enrolled in concurrent college credit courses each year. The concurrent enrollment program provides high school seniors the opportunity to earn college credit tuition-free while still in high school, which saves students and their parents money, shortens time to degree, and accelerates production of the graduates needed to meet our workforce demands. The State Regents and our 25 public colleges and universities remain committed to providing Oklahoma students an exceptional, affordable higher education opportunity and increasing degree completion to meet our state’s business and industry workforce needs. We will continue to make the case to restore appropriations to public higher education, which were cut $220 million or 22 percent in the last four fiscal years. Higher education is the best investment our policy leaders can make to ensure a brighter future for Oklahoma.”
For state colleges and universities, the next step in the budget process is to formulate their operating budgets for FY 2019. These proposed operating budgets will be presented by college and university presidents to the State Regents at their June 27 meeting and considered at the June 28 meeting.