Topic: Higher Education

2019 Priority: Restore higher education funding to ensure a well-educated workforce

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
January 24, 2019 // Updated: January 24, 2019
Download this fact sheet as a printable pdf here. Read about the rest of OK Policy’s 2019 Legislative Policy Priorities here. Maintaining a robust system of higher education is vital to Oklahoma’s economic prosperity. Insufficient funding hampers Oklahoma’s ability to… Read more [More...]

Funding postsecondary education for incarcerated Oklahomans could pay off for public safety and the budget

By: Anna Rouw
December 12, 2018 // Updated: January 19, 2019
Oklahoma has made encouraging progress on justice reform in recent years. Reforms passed in 2016 and 2018 will slow prison population growth and spur investments in rehabilitation. While these are important steps in the right direction, criminal justice reform should… Read more [More...]

Higher education funding cuts continue to drive up tuition and threaten college access

By: David Blatt
August 24, 2017 // Updated: January 19, 2019
Another national report is calling attention to Oklahoma’s drastic cuts to funding for colleges and universities in recent years. At a time when a college education has never been more critical for individual prosperity and state economic development, funding decisions… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma already led the nation in cuts to K-12 education. Now we lead in cuts to higher ed too.

By: Gene Perry
July 11, 2017 // Updated: January 19, 2019
For several years now, Oklahoma has led the nation in cuts to state aid funding of K-12 schools by reducing state aid per student 26.9 percent since 2008. That’s almost twice as much as the next worst state, Alabama. The results… Read more [More...]

Bill to expand eligibility for Oklahoma’s Promise scholarships would be a win for all Oklahomans

By: Courtney Cullison
May 8, 2017 // Updated: January 19, 2019
The Oklahoma Legislature is close to passing a bill (SB 529) to make Oklahoma’s Promise scholarships available to more students. Available since 1996, these scholarships cover the cost of tuition for in-state students at an Oklahoma public college or university… Read more [More...]

This part of the budget deal may be the greatest threat to Oklahoma’s economy

By: Gene Perry
May 25, 2016 // Updated: January 19, 2019
Overwhelmingly, the states where residents earn the highest wages also have the best-educated workforce. Both productivity and median wages in a state are strongly correlated with the percentage of residents with a college degree. At the same time, overall state… Read more [More...]

The ABCs of Oklahoma’s Promise

By: Rosie Nelson
July 28, 2014 // Updated: January 19, 2019
This post was written by OK Policy summer intern Rosie Nelson.  Rosie has an MA in Higher Education from the University of Mississippi and will begin a PhD program at the Stanford Graduate School of Education starting this fall. Recently,… Read more [More...]

Severe education funding cuts threaten Oklahoma’s economic future

By: Gene Perry
February 19, 2013 // Updated: January 19, 2019
Oklahoma has made some of the deepest cuts to funding for local schools of any state in the country. These cuts have serious consequences for educational quality and economic growth. Read more. [More...]