University of Oklahoma - Academic Profile

Academic Profile

The University of Oklahoma is a large residential, research university. The university consists of fifteen colleges, including 152 majors such as meteorology, geology, petroleum engineering, energy management, architecture, law, medicine, Native American studies, history of science, and dance programs. The university has a high four year full-time undergraduate enrollment including a high transfer-in population. While the two main campuses are located in Norman and Oklahoma City, affiliated programs in Tulsa expand access for students in eastern Oklahoma. Some of the programs in Tulsa include: medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, allied health and liberal arts studies.

In addition to 152 majors to choose from, the University of Oklahoma also has a nationally recognized Honors College featuring its own dedicated faculty, dormitories, and writing center. Every student from any major can apply to the college; if accepted the student is eligible to take honors classes and graduate cum laude. In order to graduate with honors, the student must complete 18 credit hours of honors classes and submit an honors thesis. Transfer students are able to transfer up to nine credit hours of honor classes from a different university.

Students come from all 50 U.S. states and over 100 countries. 32% of the 2006 freshmen were in the top 10% of their high school class. Ethnic minority groups represent over 25% of newly-enrolled undergraduates and 27% of all students. In addition, the university has an enrollment of over 700 National Merit Scholars, making it first per capita among public universities.

Due to stricter enrollment policies in recent years, average scores for incoming students are on the rise. The average ACT score for a first-time student in 2006 was 25.8 while in 1999, it was 24.5.

In addition to being a member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association and Universities Research Association, the University of Oklahoma has been categorized as "more selective" by the Carnegie Foundation. For the 2010-2011 school year, 9,996 applied and 8,498 were admitted (85%). The university's freshman retention rate in 2009 was 82% and the six-year graduation rate was 62.0%.