Attracting top students from across the nation and more than 100 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 per capita among public universities and is in the top five of public universities in the nation in the graduation of Rhodes Scholars. 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. OU is one of the few public universities in the nation to cap the class size of first-year English composition courses at no more than 19. The University is first in the Big 12 and at the top in the nation in international exchange agreements with countries around the world with 171 student exchange agreements with universities in 60 countries. The number of endowed faculty positions has more than quadrupled since 1994, increasing from less than 100 to 539 today, helping to retain and attract talented faculty members.


During the past decade, research expenditures have more than doubled at OU and sponsored research has grown at twice the national growth rate. In fiscal year 2006, OU set a new record high of $239 million in external funding for research and sponsored programs, more than $17 million above the previous year. Particularly successful university research programs including weather, genomics, chemistry, health sciences, nanosciences, education, and applied social research as well as technology development and transfer will continue to grow with the development of the University Research Campus. The buildings and spaces on the research campus support a true community of ideas that reflects the core mission and values of the university, but with a decidedly modern approach that includes academia, government and the private sector.