College Park: Four-Year University Experience Coming to Downtown Tulsa

Students looking to earn a bachelor’s degree and stay in Tulsa will benefit with the creation of College Park, a public four-year university experience in one location.

In announcing the expanded partnership between Tulsa Community College and Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, leaders also announced OSU-Tulsa has commitments for $500,000 to help fund scholarships for College Park students.

“College Park is a direct response to calls for an affordable, public, four-year higher education option combining TCC’s nationally recognized experience in the first two years of higher education, and OSU-Tulsa’s role as a public, metropolitan urban-serving research university,” said Dr. Leigh Goodson, TCC president and CEO. “In addition, this new collaboration allows us to offer degree programs tailored to the needs of our region’s economy.”

College Park is located at OSU-Tulsa with courses taught by faculty from TCC and OSU and builds on the collaboration started in January 2020 with LinkedDegree.

“Our goal is to improve access to bachelor’s degrees for all Tulsans and reduce equity gaps in bachelor’s degree attainment,” said Dr. Pamela Fry, OSU-Tulsa president. “Two of the state’s leading institutions combining forces to create this experience for students will not only increase the number of bachelor’s degrees in Tulsa, but also save taxpayers money and help attract companies to invest in northeast Oklahoma.”

Capitalizing on existing infrastructure, College Park students will complete their four-year university experience in a single location, surrounded by OSU-Tulsa and TCC support and resources. Eligible students can utilize Tulsa Achieves with additional scholarship support toward the costs of the junior and senior years from OSU-Tulsa.

"The new level of collaboration for College Park is an example of how innovation will keep the City of Tulsa globally competitive by keeping our talent in Tulsa and building the workforce employers want,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “This is an important step to increase the number of bachelor's degrees in key industries to attract and recruit companies. I want to thank Oklahoma State University and Tulsa Community College for providing this educational opportunity for Tulsans.”

College Park students learn in a fully guided and supported cohort program, which is a group learning environment that builds collaboration. College Park also provides access to shared student services, including early advising, career counseling and wellness, as well as research facilities and specialized faculty.

“The state system of higher education remains focused on identifying opportunities to collaborate and achieve efficiencies that serve our students and advance our state. College Park and the efforts of the seven colleges and universities in northeast Oklahoma to fully align student transfer through the Tulsa Transfer Collaborative are excellent examples of leveraging partnerships to help our students complete their college degrees and enter the workforce more quickly,” said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson.

State Regent Jody Parker said, “I commend OSU-Tulsa, TCC and the other members of the Tulsa Transfer Collaborative for listening to Tulsa leaders and partnering to find innovative solutions to address the need for more bachelor’s degree holders in northeast Oklahoma and across our state.”

Additional comments from State Regent Jay Helm noted the impact from COVID-19. “Moving Oklahoma forward, especially given the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, will take all of us working together. We celebrate the partnership that produced College Park and the work of the Tulsa Transfer Collaborative to improve student outcomes and simplify transfer for all students in northeast Oklahoma,” said Helm.

Applications open May 3 for Fall 2021, when two cohorts of business students will begin taking TCC classes at OSU-Tulsa and move into OSU-Tulsa courses in their junior year.

“OSU-Tulsa and TCC have a longstanding partnership to support Tulsa students. Of all undergraduate students at OSU-Tulsa, 72 percent are TCC transfer students,” said Goodson. “When you look at OSU as a whole, 24 percent of OSU graduates in 2019 attended TCC at some point in their college journey.”

OSU’s Spears School of Business is the top transfer destination for TCC Associate of Science Business Administration graduates and remains among the top five percent of the world’s schools offering business degrees with the 2019 re-accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

College Park will offer daytime classes for the full-time cohort and evening classes for the part-time cohort of business students. Additional academic programs will be added in the future.

To learn more, visit College Park.