University of Oklahoma

According to a school representative, The University of Oklahoma is truly an extraordinary institution, known for its academic excellence and strong sense of community. Attracting top students from across the nation and more than 140 countries around the world, OU provides a major university experience in a private college atmosphere. OU is number one in the nation in the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled among public and private universities. The OU Honors College is one of the largest honors programs among public universities in the United States, matching the University's best and brightest students with faculty in classrooms of 19 or fewer students. The University has study abroad programs and opportunities in over 240 cities and 82 countries across six continents. The number of endowed faculty positions has grown more than five-fold since 1994, increasing from fewer than 100 to more than 578 today, helping to retain and attract talented faculty members. Just one year after launching a five-year Campaign for Scholarship endowments, we reached our goal of raising $50 million, allowing the university to award hundreds of new scholarships and ensuring that OU will remain affordable and keep open the door of opportunity for all qualified students. During the past decade, research expenditures have more than doubled at OU. Since 1994, more than $2 billion in construction projects have been completed, are under way or are forthcoming on OU's three campuses. OU is extraordinary, too, because of its excellent programs and resources. OU's two public museums, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, rank among the top university-based museums in the country. OU's Bizzell Memorial Library features the largest history of science collection in the world, and is the only place in the United States where you can hold a book with Galileo's handwriting in your own hands. There is a true sense of family on the OU campus. Serving as a model for other public universities, OU established the Faculty-In-Residence program which places faculty members and their families in each of our residence halls to foster faculty and student interaction and encourage intergenerational friendships. Further, a different professor adopts each floor of the residence halls as well as each fraternity and sorority, allowing students and faculty to build relationships outside of the classroom.