Founded in 1890, Oklahoma State
University is home of the Cowboys and Cowgirls. The Oklahoma
State Department of Athletics has won 50 NCAA team national
championships, more than any other Big 12 Conference
institution.
Oklahoma State University has a presence in all 77 counties
throughout the state of Oklahoma. Its main campus is located
in Stillwater, which was founded in 1884 in north central Oklahoma. The
city of Stillwater offers a classic college-town atmosphere,
and big-city access with Oklahoma City and Tulsa just an
hour away.
Oklahoma's only university with a statewide presence,
Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public educational
system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the
nation, and the world by adhering to its land-grant mission of
high-quality teaching, research and outreach.
OSU research, scholarship, and creative activities promote human
and economic development through the expansion of knowledge and
its application. Established as a result of the Morrill Act, the
Stillwater campus is the home of the OSU System. OSU was founded
on Dec. 25, 1890, as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical
College. On July 1, 1957, Oklahoma A&M College became Oklahoma
State University.
The OSU System has an enrollment of more than 35,000 students
across its five campuses with one of the largest freshman
classes in school history expected for the fall of 2011. Named
Oklahoma's inaugural Truman Honor Institution for its production
of Truman Scholars, OSU today boasts students from all 50 states
and nearly 120 nations. There are more than 200,000 OSU alumni
throughout the world.
When it comes to outreach, OSU reaches across the state of
Oklahoma. It has five campuses: Stillwater, which includes the
Center for Veterinary Health Sciences; OSU-Tulsa; OSU-Oklahoma
City; OSU Institute of Technology in Okmulgee; and the OSU
Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, which includes the OSU
Medical Center. OSU also boasts 16 agricultural experiment
stations statewide, extension offices in 76 counties, a new
sensor testing facility in Ponca City, and a biosciences
institute in Ardmore in partnership with the Noble Foundation.
With more than 350 undergraduate and graduate degrees and
options, as well as professional degree programs in medicine and
veterinary medicine, OSU and its nine different colleges provide
unmatched diversity of academic offerings.
OSU conducts innovative research and technology transfer that
enhance Oklahoma's economic vitality and its quality of life.
The focus has expanded greatly since 1890, but the third
cornerstone of the university's land-grant mission remains as
crucial for the future of Oklahoma as it was at statehood.
Interdisciplinary collaborations with academic institutions,
government agencies, private business, and industry ensure that
contributions of faculty and student researchers to the
development of new knowledge and its dissemination are pertinent
and lasting.
Areas of emphasis include: alternative energies and
conservation; animal based agriculture and biotechnology;
environmental protection; food production and safety; health and
medicine; manufacturing and advanced materials; national defense
and homeland security; sensors and sensor technologies; and
transportation and infrastructure.
Although OSU is a large, comprehensive university, its size does
not minimize the personal attention given to each student. OSU
encourages all students when they first enroll to identify the
college in which they wish to major. 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.
OSU offers students many distinct advantages. It has more than 2
million volumes in the library; modern research laboratories and
equipment; excellent physical education, recreation and student
union facilities; nationally-recognized residence hall programs;
outstanding cultural events; and 36 nationally affiliated
fraternities and sororities that provide a stimulating
educational and social environment.
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia
Oklahoma State University History
The story of Oklahoma State University began on
Christmas Eve, 1890, at the McKennon Opera House in Oklahoma's
territorial capital of Guthrie when Territorial Governor George
W. Steele signed legislation establishing an Oklahoma
Agricultural and Mechanical College (OAMC) in Payne County.
OAMC's first students assembled for class on Dec. 14, 1891, even
though there were no buildings, no books, and no curriculum. The
college's first students attended classes in the Stillwater
Congregational Church. The original campus consisted of 200
acres of prairie that were donated by four local homesteaders.
The college's first six graduates received their diplomas in
1896.
Visitors to the OSU campus often marvel at its beauty and
consistency of architecture. Much of the credit goes to
legendary president, Henry G. Bennett, who served from
1928-1951. Dr. Bennett's 25-year campus master plan envisioned
some of the university's most famous and beautiful structures,
including the Edmon Low Library and the OSU Student Union.
A new campus master plan is guiding unprecedented construction
that is making OSU more competitive in academics and athletics.
Starting in the fall of 2008, OSU has opened the new Multimodal
Transportation Terminal, the new North Classroom Building, the
west end zone of Boone Pickens Stadium, refurbished Old Central,
the Donald W. Reynolds Architecture Building and an upgraded
Murray Hall. It has opened the new Henry Bellmon Research Center
and is nearing completion on a major renovation of the Student
Union. Hall of Fame Avenue on the north and University Avenue on
the south have both been significantly upgraded, and the
university has started an update to its campus landscape plan.
OSU grew quite rapidly following World War II. The post-war
years were marked by a huge enrollment surge. Some graduates
from that era may remember "Veteran's Village," a thriving
community that developed on the northwest edge of campus as
veterans and their families moved into surplus military housing
provided by the college. The mid-1940s also were a golden era
for athletics at Oklahoma A&M. In a 90-day period in early 1945,
A&M teams won the Cotton Bowl, the NCAA championship in
wrestling, and the NCAA championship in basketball. The next
year, the wrestling and basketball teams repeated as national
champions, and the football team won the Sugar Bowl. Coaches and
players from that era are now sports legends. Coach Henry Iba
set a national standard in basketball and Edward Gallagher took
his wrestling teams to international prominence.
By the 1950s, the college had grown substantially. In 1957,
Oklahoma A&M became The Oklahoma State University for
Agriculture and Applied Science.
During the next three decades, OSU would build academic programs
to match its new status. Enrollment more than doubled from
10,385 in 1957 to more than 23,000 in the 1980s. OSU became a
statewide university system, adding branches in Okmulgee in 1946
and Oklahoma City in 1961. OSU merged with the Oklahoma College
of Osteopathic Medicine in 1988, and OSU-Tulsa was born in 1999.
Today, OSU has more than 35,000 students across five campuses
and a presence in every Oklahoma county through its extension
offices and experiment stations. From six graduates in 1896, to
nearly 5,000 annually today, the small college on the prairie
has grown and prospered far beyond the dreams of its founders.
OSU teaching, research and graduates are making a bigger impact
on the lives of people around the world than ever before. It's a
great time to be a Cowboy!
About Stillwater
Located in north central Oklahoma, and easy drives from Oklahoma City, Tulsa,
Kansas City and Dallas, Stillwater provides college-town atmosphere with
big-city access.
Stillwater is a rapidly growing city of 47,000 and is near the geographic center
of the country. The U.S. Census Bureau recently named Stillwater as the fastest
growing city in the state of Oklahoma. Often called Oklahoma's premier education
community, Stillwater is the home of some of the region's finest education and
training institutions, including Oklahoma State University, Meridian Technology
Center, Northern Oklahoma College/OSU Gateway, and one of the nation's top rated
public school systems.
With such a strong commitment to education, it's easy to see why Stillwater's
educational attainment is among the highest in the nation, with 48 percent of
its residents holding bachelor's degrees or higher. The city is the micropolitan
anchor for the state's technology triangle that includes Oklahoma City and
Tulsa.
The "college town" atmosphere lends itself to a variety of recreational
opportunities. Year-round arts and cultural events appeal to many different
audiences and feature music, dance, theater, festivals, lectures, and concerts.
A youthful community demands the best in fitness centers, spas, parks and
recreational opportunities.
And for the outdoor enthusiast, nearby lakes provide a quiet respite at the
city's edge, sparkling in 234 days of annual sunshine.
After a day of work or play, residents and visitors often relax in one of the
many restaurants or night spots that offer everything from barbecue to fine
dining, and blues to bluegrass. Stillwater's retail districts feature a unique
shopping experience where you'll find museums, galleries, and shops with
personality. OSU athletic events attract more than 600,000 fans to Stillwater
annually.
OSU has been called the "University of Golf," and the five-star Karsten Creek,
home of the 10-time national champion Cowboy golf team and perennial top-10
women's program, ranks with such well-known courses as Pebble Beach. It's one of
several public and private courses that prompted Golf Digest to call the
Stillwater area among the "Top 10 Places in America to retire and play golf."
Stillwater is one of America's safest cities, with a crime rate far below the
U.S. average and Oklahoma State University has been considered the safest campus
in the Big 12 Conference since the league's inception.
Security also comes in the form of great health care services, centered around
Stillwater Medical Center's state of the art facilities. And with a cost of
living that averages more than 10 percent below the U.S. average, the dollar
buys more.
Whether you're here for a short time or a lifetime, you'll want to stake your
claim in one of America's great university cities… Stillwater, Oklahoma!
