No tuition hike this year at OU

[badger]

Link via NewsOK.com (http://newsok.com/ou-announces-flat-rate-tuition-plan-for-undergraduates/article/3854623)


NORMAN — Full-time undergraduates who attend the University of Oklahoma will soon play a flat tuition rate, no matter how many courses they take, OU officials said Thursday.

OSU announced the same plan earlier today, but both will need the obligatory regents stamp of approval first (doubt it doesn't happen).

Anyone seeing this elsewhere across the country? Are universities finally tired of being on the receiving ends of "higher than inflation" complaints?

[Midtowner]

Some administrators do care about the cost of higher ed. I was lucky enough to sit down with one-time Chancellor of the Board of Regents for Higher Ed (I worked for the campus TV news station as a reporter) Hans Brisch just prior to his retirement. When I asked what he was proudest of, he was ready to pounce on that question. He had a laminated piece of paper containing cost comparisons for Oklahoma schools versus our competitors and he was most proud of how we had managed to retain a high quality system without charging nearly what some of our regional counterparts do. He unfortunately passed soon after his retirement, but there are still good guys in higher ed.

[yermom]

i'm not sure what this has to do with a tuition hike though

that fee structure is interesting. i'm not sure how much money it would have saved me though...

[SoonerStormchaser]

Considering that out-of-state tuition at OU has more than DOUBLED since I started there in 2001...and look at the rate of inflation since then...

[badger]

Considering that out-of-state tuition at OU has more than DOUBLED since I started there in 2001...and look at the rate of inflation since then...

When I first arrived on campus in fall of 2001, students were still saying that it was cheaper to attend OU on out-of-state than a Texas school on in-state.

Then, the great tuition hikes of 2002 (and every year after with two exceptions) started. Some Texas students saw the writing on the wall and transferred, others gutted it out.

If you know of anyone in this situation at OU, I have useful advice: Seek an in-state tuition scholarship. There's a wide variety of reasons (being enrolled in a Native American tribe that is tied to Oklahoma, with the college you're enrolled in, etc) and while I was there, they didn't seem to be limited.

If you're an in-stater and think tuition is still too high, my advice remains FAFSA... not because the feds are going to help you out in any way shape or form (a lot of college friends were approved for loans rather than scholarships to their chagrin), but because filling out FAFSA will make you eligible for other OU scholarships... there's one that's called Sooner Heritage or Sooner Legacy or something like that. A few years ago, I heard that the only ones that were 100 percent rejected were those that didn't have FAFSA paperwork.

[SoonerStormchaser]

Baj,
I gained OK residence in 2002 in hopes of gaining in-state tuition...then, when I went to see them about it in 2003, after waiting the year they required, they then told me that I would have to prove to them that I would be getting a job that would keep me in the state. When I informed them that I wanted to join the USAF post-graduation, and would serving my country suffice, they then said that it wasn't good enough.
Needless to say, when I got stationed at Tinker, I wanted to march into Boren's office and demand a tuition refund.

And what did my increased tuition do for my education? Get me the same professors who didn't give two ****s about helping me succeed in their class as much as they cared about their research or writing their books.

Boren is nothing more than a money-grabbing lying sack of **** as far as I'm concerned!

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

so tuition now is roughly $300/hour. When I was in school in 90 it was $50ish.

1990
Tuition ~2000
Room and board - 5000

2013

Tuition 8800
Room and Board 8200

One of these has increased normally with inflation, one has not.

[badger]

I wanted to march into Boren's office and demand a tuition refund.

And what did my increased tuition do for my education? Get me the same professors who didn't give two ****s about helping me succeed in their class as much as they cared about their research or writing their books.

Boren is nothing more than a money-grabbing lying sack of **** as far as I'm concerned!

No joke, you should have sought out Boren personally and told him of your situation. I have no doubt he would have actually heard you out and then offered to do something about it, either for you and/or for future military-bound students.

I know that being a university president requires him to be a money-grabber and being a politician requires him to be a lying sack of ****, but he has a soft spot for students, especially ones he meets and talks to personally.


the same professors who didn't give two ****s about helping me succeed in their class as much as they cared about their research or writing their books.

It's something that is quite common at universities, not unique to OU. While some non-AAU member universities that desire membership may seek out more tenured faculty, I see more going the route of teach-only visiting profs on temporary contracts

[yermom]

am i the only one that read the article?

[badger]

am i the only one that read the article?
I probably should have titled it "flat tuition proposal" since that is more significant in the longterm. But, for some reason, my eyes zoomed right in on them not raising in-state tuition this year (pending regents approval, of course).

I don't think there's a student around (at least a full-time one) that wouldn't have taken more hours if they knew they were paying the same whether you took 12 or 21 hours per semester

[SanJoaquinSooner]

And what did my increased tuition do for my education? Get me the same professors who didn't give two ****s about helping me succeed in their class as much as they cared about their research or writing their books.

!

I hope you're not talking about Howie Bluestein!