By Dr. Mark Rutland President, oral roberts universityeducationSince coming to <strong>Tulsa</strong>, my wife, Alison, andI have absolutely fallen in love with the city.<strong>Tulsa</strong> truly is one of the best places to live andwork in the world. When I speak to colleaguesand friends around the nation, I always tellthem about our friendly community.Another major strength for the <strong>Tulsa</strong> area is theexcellent educational institutions that play a majorrole in the future of the region. I have been inexecutive leadership for more than 30 yearsand higher education for the last 12. <strong>Tulsa</strong> hasan impressive array of educational opportunitiesfrom preschool to doctoral work.I am proud to be the president of Oral RobertsUniversity (ORU), a world-renowned Christianuniversity located in south <strong>Tulsa</strong>. ORU was foundedby Oral Roberts to educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. This holistic, whole-personapproach to education is grounded in faith andfocused on successful student outcomes.<strong>TULSA</strong> COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLSSchool DistrictsEnrollment<strong>Tulsa</strong> 41,501Broken Arrow 16,732Union 14,931Jenks 10,371Owasso 9,143Sand Springs 5,159Bixby 5,027Collinsville 2,637Skiatook 2,560Glenpool 2,413Sperry 1,226Berryhill 1,221Liberty 604Schools with grades K-12.Data based on October 2010 enrollment.Source: Oklahoma State Department of Education, School District.Database. Compiled by Research Wizard, <strong>Tulsa</strong> <strong>City</strong>-County Library.26 VISION <strong>TULSA</strong> 2012 | t u l s a c o u n c i l . o r gORU brings international flair to <strong>Tulsa</strong> withstudents not only from 49 states, but a largecontingent of international students representing55 countries around the world. It also is acommunity body of all faiths, united together.<strong>Tulsa</strong> is a great community with a rich history,and its Native American heritage and oil boomdays are still visible throughout the city. Many keyfamilies and people played important roles in thehistory of <strong>Tulsa</strong> including the Perryman Family, thePhillips family (Frank Phillips, who founded PhillipsPetroleum Co., and his brother Waite Phillips), J.Paul Getty, William G. Skelly, the Warren family, theMurphy family, the LaFortune Family, the Gardnerfamily, the Bartlett family, Thomas Gilcrease,and Charles Page. <strong>The</strong> wealth generated bythe early oil industry also helped <strong>Tulsa</strong> becomea leader in the aviation industry as well.Quality education is the key to any thrivingcommunity, and higher education in <strong>Tulsa</strong>is certainly on the rise. Founded by thePresbyterian Church in 1894, the University of<strong>Tulsa</strong> is a nondenominational higher educationalinstitution and was recently ranked in the Top100 National Universities in U.S. News & WorldReport 2011, Best Colleges. <strong>Tulsa</strong> CommunityCollege (TCC) is Oklahoma’s largest two-yearcollege and has several sites around <strong>Tulsa</strong> tofill community needs. University of Phoenix,Phillips University, Oklahoma State University,Langston University, University of Oklahoma,Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville,and Southern Nazarene University also offernontraditional satellite and traditional programs.<strong>The</strong> Oklahoma CareerTech system has 29technology-center districts located on 57campuses. <strong>Tulsa</strong> Technology Center, the oldestand largest career tech school in Oklahoma, hasfour campuses and satellite training sites thatoffer daytime classes for high school studentsand adults as well as evening classes for adultswho want to retrain or upgrade their skills forthe workplace. Tri County Technology Centerin Bartlesville is the other center in the area.<strong>Tulsa</strong> Public Schools (TPS) is northeasternOklahoma’s largest school district with nearly42,000 students, 7,000 employees, and 88campuses. Within the district, Edison and BookerT. Washington made Newsweek magazine’s listof “Top 1,000 High Schools.” Also, Mark TwainElementary was named a 2010 National Title IDistinguished School. TPS continues to blazethe path to education with its many magnetschools including Central, Hale, McLain, andWebster high schools. <strong>The</strong> magnet programsoffer curricula in restaurant/lodging management,culinary arts, fine arts, engineering, medicine,broadcasting, filmmaking, and a number ofother interest-based courses of study. <strong>Tulsa</strong>voters also recently approved the state’s largestever bond issue of more than $350 million toensure a bright future for the city’s youth.<strong>The</strong>re are also other notable school districtsto mention in the <strong>Tulsa</strong> metro area. UnionPublic Schools has an early childhood centerfor three-year-olds; 13 elementary schoolspre-kindergarten through fifth-grade; and fivesecondary schools including a sixth-grade/seventh-grade center, an eighth-grade center,an intermediate high school for ninth- andtenth-graders, high school for eleventh- andtwelfth-graders, and an alternative school. JenksPublic Schools has three elementary schools,two intermediate schools, one middle school,one high school, one freshman academy, andan alternative school. For more than 100 years,Jenks Public Schools has been providing studentswith a quality education in an environment knownnationwide for high standards and innovation.Bixby Public Schools, located in one of thefastest growing areas in the <strong>Tulsa</strong> region, has twoelementary schools, two intermediate schools,one middle school, and one high school, but is inthe process of building three new schools. <strong>The</strong>school district serves more than 5,000 studentswithin approximately 100 square miles of schoolboundaries. Broken Arrow Public Schools has
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN <strong>TULSA</strong>, Fall 2011-2012Institution BUDGET 2011-2012 Enrollment FALL 2011 Faculty FALL 2011 2Langston University 2 71,002,493 3,046 222Northeastern State University 2 94,034,747 9,361 584Oral Roberts University 88,747,299 3,259 252OSU Center for Health Sciences 159,517,000 428 110OSU-<strong>Tulsa</strong> 24,251,714 3,118 251OU-<strong>Tulsa</strong> 133,000,000 1,609 293Rogers State University 33,936,698 4,632 268<strong>Tulsa</strong> Community College (TCC) 112,077,899 19,367 1,325University of Phoenix NA 1,900 150University of <strong>Tulsa</strong> 166,000,000 4,187 306Budget in dollars.1 Includes full and part-time faculty, except University of Phoenix and <strong>The</strong> University of <strong>Tulsa</strong> data is full-time faculty only.2 Data for all campuses.Source: Research Wizard, <strong>Tulsa</strong> <strong>City</strong>-County Library, and <strong>Tulsa</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Council</strong>, 2011.15 elementary schools, five middle schools, twointermediate schools, and one senior high schoolto serve students.Other large school districts that surround <strong>Tulsa</strong>include Owasso, Sand Springs, Collinsville,Skiatook, Glenpool, Sperry, Berryhill, and Liberty.<strong>The</strong>se school districts are all located in <strong>Tulsa</strong>County and have a commitment to academicexcellence and a variety of extracurricularactivities. Through a top-rated education, studentsfrom <strong>Tulsa</strong> area school districts continually garnerimpressive honors such as National Merit Scholarsand all-American student-athlete awards.In addition to the <strong>Tulsa</strong> Public School system,private and parochial schools within the metroarea offer complete pre-kindergarten throughtwelfth-grade programs such as VictoryChristian, Metro Christian, Lincoln Christian,Summit Christian Academy, Mingo Valley, andc o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 2 8Northeastern State UniversityToday, Northeastern State University (NSU)is Oklahoma’s fourth-largest public four-yearinstitution and one of six regional institutionsgoverned by the Regional University Systemof Oklahoma Board. <strong>The</strong> university servesas a learning hub in northeastern Oklahomaformed by three campuses—the main campusin Tahlequah and branch campuses in Muskogeeand Broken Arrow—which together serve nearly9,000 students annually.Online or On-CampusChoose from a flexible schedule of online, blendedand on-campus classes at one of three locations(Broken Arrow, Muskogee, and Tahlequah).NSU’s new College of Extended Learningat Northeastern State University was createdfor adult students who want to return to college,earn a degree, and advance in their career.Because NSU recognizes how difficult it is tobalance life’s priorities, its degree programs focuson both quality and convenience, offering a mixtureof accelerated, eight-week courses and expandedsupport services for working adults.<strong>The</strong> College of Extended Learningempowers you to:Enhance your job skillsIncrease your employment marketabilityEarn a degree from an accredited universityFit part-time course work into the full-time real worldChoose an academic plan that meets your needsand accomplishes your goalTo learn more about NSU, visit GO2NSU.comor call 800.722.9614.t u l s a c o u n c i l . o r g | VISION <strong>TULSA</strong> 2012 27
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