The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education today approved slight increases to tuition and mandatory fees for Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities. Tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students will increase an average of 1.3% statewide for the 2020-21 academic year.
“Our public higher education institutions operate in an extremely challenging fiscal environment,” said Joseph L. Parker Jr., chair of the State Regents. “This slight increase at some of our regional universities and community colleges will help them to continue to focus on increasing college degree completion, including the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and health professions in order to meet current and future workforce demands in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.”
On average, a full-time Oklahoma college student will pay $79.97 more for tuition and mandatory fees in 2020-21.
“The State Regents and our public colleges and universities continue to work tirelessly to keep higher education affordable for Oklahoma citizens,” said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson. “It’s been an extremely difficult budget year for our state. This modest tuition and fee increase will assist our higher education institutions in meeting their mandatory costs while continuing to provide outstanding academic and support services to our students.”
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, and Oklahoma State University, Stillwater and Tulsa, are not increasing tuition and mandatory fees in 2020-21.
Public regional university tuition and mandatory fee increases average 1.0% for in-state undergraduates.
Oklahoma’s community colleges will increase in-state tuition and mandatory fee rates by an average of 2.2%.
State law requires tuition and mandatory fees to remain at levels below the average among comparable institutions, and Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities continue to keep tuition and mandatory fees well within those limits.
“The impact on student access to educational opportunities is always a major consideration when recommending changes to tuition or fees,” said Cameron University President John McArthur, who serves as chair of the Council of Presidents. “Oklahoma college and university presidents take the responsibility for tuition recommendations very seriously. As a group, we are always exploring ways to improve educational effectiveness and outcomes while being efficient and frugal with scarce resources. Oklahoma higher education continues to be a bargain at every level.”
The law also requires the State Regents to make a reasonable effort to increase financial aid across the state system proportionate to any increase in tuition. Tuition waivers and scholarships provided by state system institutions will increase 3.3% from FY 2020.
In addition, the State Regents administer Oklahoma’s Promise, a state scholarship program that allows high school students from middle- and low-income families to earn a college tuition scholarship. Beginning in 2017-18, the Oklahoma Legislature expanded eligibility for the program by increasing the family income limit from $50,000 to $55,000. An estimated 16,000 students will earn the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship in 2020-21.