Despite state statute changing who can offer what courses in Tulsa County, don’t look for a slew of new freshman and sophomore level courses at OU-Tulsa just yet.
“Our mandate from Tulsa County really is the same,” OU-Tulsa Vice President Susan Bynum said Friday at the Tulsa Press Club’s Page One Luncheon. “We have this structure in place where we are to partner with Tulsa Community College, and that's what we do.
“And I think that's how Tulsa, for better or worse, has structured how its higher education works. So, we're excited to work with them (TCC). All of our undergrad degrees have an articulation agreement with TCC. I think leaning into that relationship is our plan for the future.”
In 2025, the Oklahoma legislature passed a measure lifting restrictions on what lower-division classes could be offered by public universities in Tulsa County.
Since the law took effect on Nov. 1, both Oklahoma State University's Tulsa campus and Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow have added freshman and sophomore level courses.
At a similar Tulsa Press Club event in September, OSU President Jim Hess shared his interest in putting OSU’s name on TCC in an effort to have at least one public four-year higher education institution in Tulsa.
Subsequent reporting by Oklahoma Watchrevealed that Hess’ proposal calls for renaming TCC to OSU Tulsa Community College and moving the institution under the authority of the A&M Board of Regents.
TCC has more than 17,000 students across its four campuses and is one of the state’s largest providers of concurrent and dual credit programs for high school students.
However, Bynum said she sees a role for each institution in the Tulsa area to address the growing gap between the number of Oklahomans with a college degree and the national average. According to data from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, about 28% of Oklahoma adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 37% of adults nationwide.
“That’s not a one university problem – that’s an everybody problem,” she said.
NOTE: TCC is an underwriter of Public Radio Tulsa.
