Prime Highlights:
- University of Oklahoma Board of Regents authorized increasing tuition 3% and charged a new Greek Life fee.
- President Harroz’s pay rose with enrollment expansion and campus investment projects.
Key Facts:
- Resident full-time students will pay $150 more each year; law school students will pay 5% more in tuition.
- University of Oklahoma cut resident first-year students’ average net price by 27% in six years with additional aid.
Key Background:
The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents has sanctioned a 3% hike in tuition and fees for the majority of students and 5% for students pursuing a course in the College of Law. The new measure also entails a new Greek Life fee of $30 each semester. The change, subject to formal approval by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, will amount to around $150 more per year for resident undergraduate students. Nonresident students will pay an estimated extra $417.
The Board also voted to raise President Joseph Harroz Jr.’s salary to $575,000 from $500,000, along with a $200,000 performance bonus. Regents attributed it to his leadership of record-breaking enrollment increases, increased research funding, and improved national academic standing. The university has seen its highest rate of enrollment growth in more than five decades since Harroz took the reins, while also enhancing overall academic and campus life.
To counteract the effect of such tuition hikes, University of Oklahoma has significantly increased its programs of financial assistance. Need-based assistance grew 48% since 2018, while undergraduate scholarships grew more than 40%. These actions have reduced the average net price to attend for resident first-time freshmen by 27% over the last six years. The university intends to use the additional funds to increase faculty pay, add more professors to the pool, expand opportunities for study abroad, undergraduate research, and building upgrades.
On the contrary, Oklahoma State University has chosen to hold tuition flat for the fourth year in a row. The variation in approach indicates an expanding rift in state higher education leadership with University of Oklahoma focusing on strategic investment as well as protecting affordability. Governor Kevin Stitt has been insisting, however, that institutions become more operationally efficient prior to asking for tuition hikes.
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