2026-2027 Tuition Increase

The new rates will be effective for the Fall 2026 semester.

This increase will help OU continue investing in the people and programs that make an OU education exceptional.

The increase will generate approximately $10 million for Norman and $3 million for Health Campus programs, which will be used to help fund the fourth year of a merit-based salary increase for eligible faculty, staff, qualifying graduate assistants, and postdoctoral scholars. That compensation program will cost approximately $30 million university-wide.

The faculty and staff who teach, mentor, support, and serve students are at the heart of the OU experience. Maintaining competitive compensation helps OU attract and retain outstanding educators, researchers, advisors, and staff whose work directly impacts student success.

At the same time, OU remains deeply committed to affordability and access. Over the last seven years, the actual amount the average resident freshman typically pays in net tuition and fees has declined 20% as scholarships, grants, waivers, and need-based aid have increased significantly faster than tuition and fees.

As Oklahoma’s flagship university, OU has a responsibility to provide students with an exceptional educational experience while remaining accessible and affordable. This tuition increase helps support both commitments by sustaining the excellence that defines an OU degree while continuing to invest in student success.

State Support Comparisons

OU has worked closely with state leaders to secure increased funding in support of workforce development, student success, research, and other priorities outlined in the “Lead On, University” Strategic Plan. As a result, OU’s recurring state appropriation has increased by $35 million, or 34%, since FY 2019.

While this progress is significant, state funding for OU only recently returned to levels comparable to those received nearly two decades ago. Even today, OU receives substantially less state funding per student than many comparable public research universities.

The chart below illustrates this gap. OU’s per-student state funding remains approximately half that of the median public peer institution – a difference of roughly $112 million annually.

Source: IPEDS (FY 2024, most recent available data)

Recent tuition increases have helped OU invest in the people, programs, and opportunities that enhance the value of an OU degree and support student success. Examples include:

• Research and Innovation:
  • Increased sponsored research expenditures by 70% in six years – the fastest growth rate for research at OU in 50 years
  • Launched Project 200, with authorization to hire 50 new faculty researchers in FY27 across strategic areas of health, extreme weather, national security and defense, and energy
• Faculty and Staff Excellence:
  • Four consecutive merit-based salary increases for eligible faculty and staff to help recruit and retain top talent
  • Increased graduate assistant stipends by 63% beginning in Fall 2024 and provided an additional 3% increase in the Fall 2025
• Career Preparation and Student Success:
  • Expanded investments in career readiness, employer engagement, applied learning, and student outcomes
  • Nearly doubled Career Center staff to provide best-in-class student support and job placement focus
  • Created career growth pathways for academic advisors and student recruiters to strengthen student support services
• Improvements to the Student Experience:
  • Continuation of signature campus events designed to strengthen student engagement and foster connection
  • Expanded opportunities for study abroad, undergraduate research, and other high-impact learning experiences
  • Sustained and enhanced student support services, including the University Counseling Center, OU Food Pantry, and SafeRide
• Campus Planning:
  • Launched a comprehensive Campus Master Plan to align future facilities and spaces with the university’s long-term strategic priorities

OU recognizes that tuition increases have a real impact on students and families. That’s why affordability and access remain core priorities. In fact, a degree from OU is more affordable today than it was seven years ago.

Despite rising tuition costs nationwide, the actual amount the average resident freshman typically pays has declined 20% over the last seven years because OU has significantly expanded scholarships, grants, waivers, and need-based aid.

In the last 7 years:

• Need-based aid has increased more than 39%
• The annual amount of scholarships awarded to resident undergraduate students has increased 38%
  • Full-time resident undergraduates receive over $3,000 in scholarships annually, on average
  • With OU’s campus-wide scholarship coordination effort, endowed scholarships from the colleges have increased more than $2.5 million
  • Students are receiving scholarship notifications earlier, providing more time to plan financially for the upcoming academic year 
• Tuition discount rates for resident freshmen have increased from 46% to 55%

Supporting Students With the Greatest Financial Need

OU is committed to ensuring that financial circumstances do not prevent talented students from pursuing an OU education.

Through the Crimson Commitment program, eligible Oklahoma students receive scholarships, grants, and tuition waivers that match the cost of tuition and average fees.

For academic year 2025-26:

• More than 15% of resident undergraduate qualified for Crimson Commitment funding
• Pell Grant recipients reached a record high

Investing in Student Scholarships

Increasing the availability of need-based aid is the university’s top fundraising priority. As part of OU’s $2 billion fundraising campaign, $500 million has been designated for scholarships and student support to help expand opportunity for current and future students.

Providing Resources Beyond Financial Aid

OU also offers resources to help eliminate unnecessary barriers to college access and completion, including:    

• The Student Financial Center, the primary location for financial aid help
• The MidFirst Bank MoneyCoach Program, which advises on financial planning, ensuring our students have resources to make OU attainable

Importantly, increases in financial aid have benefited students across all resident income levels over the last 7 years. While students with the greatest financial need experienced the largest reductions in net cost, resident undergraduates across every income bracket have seen declines in net tuition and fee costs since FY 2019.

⁶ AGI < $60K reported in this table includes all enrolled undergraduate students. The Net Cost shown in the Annual Tuition and Fee Cost graph reflects first-time freshmen only.

OU is committed to operating efficiently and directing as many resources as possible toward its core mission of education, research, and student success.

Since FY 2019, OU has identified approximately $160 million in annual operating savings on the Norman campus through cost-reduction efforts, operational improvements, and strategic resource management. These efforts have helped OU invest in students, faculty, research, and other strategic priorities while maintaining a strong commitment to affordability.

One way to measure operational efficiency is to compare administrative and support costs – such as finance, human resources, I.T., and legal – across universities.

As the chart below illustrates, OU’s overhead costs per student are the 6^th lowest of public universities within major athletic conferences. Compared to the median, OU spends approximately $57 million less annually on these activities, demonstrating OU’s continued focus on operational efficiency and responsible stewardship of resources.

Source: FY 2024 audited financial statements and Department of Education IPEDS database

For the most recent reporting period, 58% of OU undergraduates graduated with no debt⁷ (consistent with prior years), compared to 45% at four-year public universities nationwide. Those that did graduate with debt reported $31,694 in debt. These figures and other outcome metrics compare well with public SEC and Big 12 institutions. Using the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard data and IPEDS database shows:

⁷ Common Data Set: https://www.ou.edu/irr/other-reports

⁸ Data from the College Scorecard only examines federal loan data and excludes Parent Plus loans. As such debt and loan data will not reconcile to the official debt and loan data the University publicly reports and is listed above in the OU/SEC/Big12 table.

⁹ From the Department of Education IPEDS database – FY24 most recently available data.

Using the most recent data published, OU’s student outcome data is the best of any higher ed institution in the state of Oklahoma, public or private:

• OU’s first-year retention rate: 89%
• OU’s 6-year graduation rate: 75%
• Median earnings of OU graduates: $73,280

Tuition and mandatory fees will increase by 3% for graduate students. For students on qualifying graduate assistantships, there will be no cost impact, as tuition is waived. For several years, OU has made significant progress toward increasing support for graduate education. In 2018, OU launched a multi-year initiative to lower fees for graduate assistants (GAs) on the Norman campus, saving these students $3,850 per year compared to seven years ago – bringing down fees to just over $1,000 annually, which is the public AAU average. OU implemented a 63% increase to graduate assistant stipend minimums, effective July 1, 2024, and graduate assistants are included in the 3% merit raise program for Fall 2026.

We understand this decision has real impacts; that’s why a core team of OU administrators engaged student leaders in extensive conversation, holding Fall and Spring meetings to better understand the effects of a tuition and fee increase on students.

Our professionals in the Student Financial Center stand ready to help as you seek financial aid options, and the MidFirst Bank MoneyCoach Program can assist with creating a financial plan to fund the upcoming year.