University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren announced today that OU has achieved a new record-high number of degrees conferred – 7,495 – according to data for OU students who graduated in 2011-12.

“OU is proud to help Oklahoma make history in increasing the number of college graduates in our state and to help advance the Governor’s goal of more college graduates in Oklahoma,” said OU President David L. Boren.  “As we increase the number of graduates, we also help to create more jobs and raise per capita income.”

OU is achieving academic success by attracting academically talented students and providing resources and programs to help students achieve and maintain success.  This year’s freshman class at OU is No. 1 in the nation among public universities in the number of freshman National Merit Scholars enrolled, with more than 190 in the entering class.  In addition, OU’s freshman class is the academically highest ranked freshman class in the state at a public university with an average 26 ACT for incoming freshmen.  The freshman class includes more than 300 State Regents Scholars, those who rank in the top one-half of 1 percent in the nation in test scores.

“The Norman campus faculty and staff at the University of Oklahoma are proud to be a part of this record-setting year for OU degrees awarded,” said OU’s Norman campus Senior Vice President and Provost Nancy Mergler.  “We want to help the citizens of the state and nation achieve their educational goals, and we want to assist them in finding excellent jobs.  OU provides excellent value to our students, and we continuously strive to be efficient and set goals for even better performance.”

The chair of OU’s Graduation and Retention Task Force, OU Executive Vice President Nick Hathaway, said, “This is exciting news.  This achievement reflects the strength of the commitment to reaching President Boren’s goal.  It reflects the high quality of our students and increased coordination among faculty and staff across campus in the interest of helping students graduate.  In essence, this is people caring for others that has always been one of the hallmarks of our OU family.”

OU’s Graduation and Retention Task Force has created advising and mentoring programs that provide early intervention, monitoring and support services for students having difficulty academically.  OU’s goal is for each student’s path to academic success at OU to culminate with graduation, when they can join more than 250,000 people worldwide as OU alumni.

While OU leads the state with a graduation rate of almost 68 percent, Boren has challenged OU faculty and staff to increase that rate to 75 percent in five years.