USAO: The Ivy League of the Plains

CHICKASHA – Oklahomans have long thought they had to spend $25,000 a year or more to get the high quality of education offered by Ivy League colleges or other pricey private ones.

Maybe they’re overlooking something. Maybe they’ve never been to Chickasha.

Known for its seasonal Festival of Light and classic auto shows, Chickasha is also home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, the state’s highest-ranked public college by U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges. Its recent induction into the prestigious Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges reinforces its reputation as Oklahoma’s public liberal arts college.

Now celebrating its centennial, USAO is proof that big things can happen in small places.

Oklahoma’s only public liberal arts university offers degrees in visual and performing arts, computer science, biology, education and more. With a 2002 NAIA basketball championship under its belt, the university’s five nationally ranking sports teams continue to carve their niches in the college athletics arena.

Moving to the top of the exclusive “Great Schools, Great Prices” list in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges guide, USAO earned the No. 1 spot among all baccalaureate colleges in the western United States ranked for both academic quality and reasonable cost.
Under its ambitious Mission Enhancement Plan, USAO has aggressively raised academic standards while keeping costs much lower than national competitors. For the seventh year in a row, USAO remains the highest-ranked public college in Oklahoma in the annual rankings by America’s Best Colleges.

What makes USAO so distinctive? USAO’s reputation as Oklahoma’s public liberal arts college was built on its radically unique Interdisciplinary Studies program, says USAO President John Feaver.

“The liberal arts college is a distinctly American institution,” Feaver said. “It’s based on the ideal that higher education should never just be turning out narrow specialists. In addition to learning specific skills, all students should also receive a broad education in the humanities, math and the physical and biological sciences.”

As part of the college’s unique Mission Enhancement Plan, the university has launched multiple new capital projects to raise the bar for academics, campus life and development.

With 93 percent of the faculty holding the highest degree in their fields, low class sizes, all-new housing — just like the private colleges — USAO is forging a unique place in Oklahoma and the United States. This might explain why the new Colleges of Distinction Guidebook and Website listed USAO among its select 240 schools nationally. Or, why the exclusive, national Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges names USAO among its 25 members. Or, why “Raising the Standard” has become the marketing cry for this university.

Founded as the Oklahoma College for Women, then changed to the Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts when the school went co-ed in the 60s, USAO is home to a liberal arts community whose students are making headlines. Among its alumni are Emmy award winners, internationally acclaimed authors, groundbreaking artists, scientists, musicians and more.

“Our graduates are insightful, versatile, articulate, resourceful and curious,” Feaver says, “and I’m confident that they’ll be able to adapt and thrive. I’m not alone in this conviction. The value of a traditional liberal arts approach is validated everyday by people who spend small fortunes to send their sons and daughters to Amherst, Middlebury, Swarthmore and Grinnell.”

More information about USAO is available online at www.usao.edu.