Higher Education

Oklahoma’s colleges have a spending problem

October 2, 2018

Trent England, Cody Ray Milner

In the modern world, it’s not just “moths and rust” that destroy value, but also inflation. Yet in modern America, the prices of some things have risen far faster than everything else. Housing, health care, and higher education have all seen rapid cost increases. At least houses have gotten bigger and more luxurious, and health care today offers a lot more than it could fifty years ago. But higher education? 

What goes on in colleges and universities has not fundamentally changed. And technology ought to bring lower costs to at least some parts of higher education. Yet tuition and fees keep climbing. What’s going on? 

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has assembled the data for all of our state’s public colleges and universities, looking at both revenue and expenditures. One claim made by some officials is that they only raise tuition because the state legislature has cut state direct subsidies to higher education. Our research shows that is false: even when state subsidies go up, many schools have still increased costs to students. What seems to be happening in many institutions is a relentless increase in expenditures, even when the number of students is flat or declining.

But you don’t need to take our word for it: Find a school below and view data on its spending and revenue since the year 2000. (All data adjusted for inflation based on CPI.)

University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma State University 

University of Central Oklahoma

Cameron University

Connors State College

Eastern Oklahoma State College 

Langston University

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Rogers State University

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Northeastern State University

Murray State College

East Central University

Carl Albert State College

Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma City Community College

Northern Oklahoma College

Redlands Community College

Rose State College

Seminole State College

Tulsa Community College

Western Oklahoma State College