Enhancing Academic Excellence and Life-Changing Opportunities

GOAL 1

Prepare Oklahoma State University students as critical thinkers and lifelong learners ready to serve and lead by elevating rigorous, accessible academic programs at every level and modality — undergraduate, graduate and professional — that align with the land-grant mission and meet workforce and industry demands.

Curiosity provides the seed for learning, and it’s foundational to the human experience. In order to have global impact embedded in our mission, Oklahoma State University must nurture this curiosity through rigorous academic pursuit.

High academic standards must be coupled with modes for access: simplifying admission pathways, expanding scholarship opportunities, establishing seamless transfers and strengthening financial aid so that the road to a brighter future remains wide open.

Graduate and professional programs are vital to this rigorous pursuit, and in today’s education environment, we cannot overlook the opportunities that online education provides to our students.

What Oklahoma needs is front and center in this plan. Filling the talent pipelines our state desperately needs.

Nothing is more core to what we do than the pursuit of knowledge, and at OSU, we believe that pursuit should be accessible to all. We are fostering human intelligence and Cowboy values to build a workforce ready for the future. By approaching our academic programs holistically, we’re creating life-changing opportunities to launch students into their futures.

OBJECTIVE 1

Strengthen OSU System academic programs at every level through rigorous, ongoing program review and aligned general education requirements.

Key Performance Indicators and Tasks

• Increase the percentage of units whose programs have undergone external review in a 6-year period.
• Modernize our process for general education program review and assessment
• Percentage of courses that have documented learning outcomes

OBJECTIVE 2

Promote access by simplifying undergraduate admission pathways, strengthening financial aid and scholarship opportunities, establishing common course numbering, and enabling seamless transfer across the OSU System.

Key Performance Indicators and Tasks

• Increase the number of students admitted annually from system institutions via automatic admission pathways
• Increase the percentage of common general education and most transferred courses with unified numbering and course descriptions
• Decrease time-to-degree for intra-system transfer students
• 55% of Stillwater undergraduate students with zero debt upon graduation
• Establish articulation agreements for the top five programs for transfer students from each OSU institution

OBJECTIVE 3

Elevate the competitiveness and increase enrollment in graduate and professional education by restructuring student financial support and developing sustainable program models that attract high-quality students.

Key Performance Indicators and Tasks

• Align the total cost of graduate attendance (stipend, waivers, fees, healthcare) as a percentage of the peer median
• Develop and assess an annual graduate program sustainability scorecard (revenue model and student demand by program)
• Increase graduate student financial packages benchmarked against peer and aspirant institutions

OBJECTIVE 4

Expand the OSU System’s portfolio of mission-aligned online programs across undergraduate, graduate and professional disciplines, while reformulating the fee structure to incentivize growth.

Key Performance Indicators and Tasks

• Increase the number of fully online mission-aligned programs offered (undergraduate, graduate, professional)
• Increase online enrollment as a percentage of total OSU System enrollment
• Increase online program student persistence and completion rate vs. in-person comparator

OBJECTIVE 5

Meet regional and national workforce demands through aligned credentials, embedded high impact practices (to include expanded applied learning opportunities), evaluating career-readiness competencies, and tracking industry advisory engagement.

Key Performance Indicators and Tasks

• Increase the percentage of degree programs requiring at least one high-impact practice
• Percentage of degrees aligned with documented workforce demand data
•  Percentage of employers rating OSU graduates as career-ready
• Employment and full-time graduate enrollment rate (6–12 months post-graduation)
• Track median early-career earnings
• Track industry engagement and satisfaction across the institution

OBJECTIVE 6

Meet Oklahoma’s workforce needs by producing graduates to fill the talent pipelines for Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education key industries.

Key Performance Indicators

• Increase the annual OSU graduates produced in top critical occupations
• Increase the percentage of critical occupations graduates employed in Oklahoma within one year of graduation