University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Chickasha, Oklahoma
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The world is complex, and so many complex challenges face this generation. The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma’s interdisciplinary core curriculum is not just a bundle of general education requirements with a fancy name. USAO’s Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) program is a carefully designed sequence of courses that incorporates many academic traditions while building connections between them. These classes are generally team-taught by two or more professors from different disciplines. The IDS program is the spine that has held USAO’s liberal arts mission upright for 50 years.
USAO’s Mission: The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is the state’s only public liberal arts college. Its mission is to provide the public with a distinctive and accessible liberal arts and sciences education. In combining an interdisciplinary core curriculum with superior instruction in major fields of study, USAO aims to provide a thorough education that prepares students for meaningful, purposeful lives.
USAO graduates are living proof that the liberal arts model will enable students to learn, exercise critical thinking, and communicate. Within one year of graduation, a higher percentage of graduates from USAO are employed than from any other university in Oklahoma. Regardless of a student’s path, the skills gained at USAO are time-tested and designed to last. This is why USAO is recognized by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni as one of only 23 universities nationwide meeting the highest standards in requiring every student to have a solid foundation in math, science, literature, history, and other core subjects.
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is Oklahoma’s only public liberal arts college. USAO was founded in 1908 as a women’s institution, Oklahoma College for Women (OCW), the first college created by Oklahoma’s first legislature. USAO is one of only seven state institutions with similar missions ever created in the United States. Other than the University of Oklahoma, USAO has the oldest original mission of any state college or university in Oklahoma. USAO is the only Oklahoma college to be named a National Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Get to know University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
College Highlights
A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCES
Much of campus life occurs outside the classroom. USAO promotes the idea that the total university experience cannot be realized through academic involvement alone, and that if a university education is a rehearsal for one’s future, it should include a variety of experiences.
ENROLLMENT BY ETHNICITY
Nonresident aliens: 8%
Hispanic/Latino: 10%
Black or African American, non-Hispanic: 4%
White, non-Hispanic: 58%
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 7%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 1%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: 0%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic: 11%
Race and/or ethnicity unknown: 1%
THE BEST PROFESSORS FOR THE BEST EXPERIENCE
Beginning freshman year, USAO students are taught by PhDs. Because USAO offers no graduate programs, undergraduate courses are never taught by graduate assistants. Classes are small, and faculty devote themselves exclusively to providing students with the finest undergraduate learning opportunities anywhere.
LIBERAL ARTS
USAO accepts the challenge to provide an academic and social environment that promotes liberal arts learning. The school has a public liberal arts tradition dating back to 1908. USAO is a member of the prestigious Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) in recognition of the university’s strong tradition of liberal arts education.
IDS CORE
The Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) core curriculum differs from other general education programs in several key ways: the breadth and structure of the program, its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, and its use of team teaching. Students commit 50 credit hours to the IDS program over the course of their college careers. This commitment fosters connections between faculty and students who, unable to completely withdraw into one academic department, interact with a wide range of people, ideas, and viewpoints on a daily basis.
TOP-NOTCH FACILITIES
USAO’s Lawson Hall apartments, which opened in fall 2002, are among the most elaborately appointed residence halls in the state, containing a hair and tanning salon, a pool, a volleyball court, a game room, and a movie theater. Additionally, a recent renovation of the Student Center makes it a great place for students to eat and to meet friends.
Nash Library not only serves as the primary research center, but it is also a great place to meet people and hang out. Computer labs in multiple halls are open to all students, and a special Writing Center provides help for students with writing assignments.
CHICKASHA
Chickasha, a small town of 17,000, is 35 miles from Oklahoma City’s metro area, which features a variety shopping and arts events. The town is the proud home of the internationally recognized Festival of Light, a holiday extravaganza that features displays of more than 3.5 million Christmas lights. It draws more than 300,000 people to visit Shannon Springs Park, located just a few blocks from the USAO campus.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
At USAO, the opportunities are endless! USAO works hard to keep the calendar filled with exciting—and yes, intellectually stimulating—events to get students out of their dorm rooms and have year-round fun. Popular events include dramatic and musical productions, Inter-Tribal Heritage Club powwows, guest speakers, entertainers, concerts, and sporting events.
With more than 40 clubs and organizations from which to choose, students’ campus experiences are customized according to any of their interests.
ATHLETICS
USAO takes pride in developing scholar-athletes who demonstrate the valued relationship between academics and athletics—a relationship that characterizes the great liberal arts colleges.
USAO’s sports teams have achieved national success and compete among the elite teams in small college athletics. Competing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Drovers regularly compete against some of the nation’s best. In addition, each of USAO’s athletic programs has competed in the NAIA National Tournament. Each of USAO coaches is committed to establishing nationally known athletic programs that compete for conference and national championships on a regular basis. Drovers’ athletic teams consist of eight varsity sports (Four men’s: basketball, soccer, baseball, cross-country; four women’s: basketball, soccer, softball, cross-country), and five intramurals.
EXACTLY WHO EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR
Employers everywhere are seeking problem solvers who think critically and logically—the kind of graduates produced by USAO.
USAO students take charge of their lives and develop their unique potentials with reason, imagination, and human concern. Employers everywhere are seeking problem solvers who think critically and logically, the kind of graduates produced by USAO. Within one year of graduation, a higher percentage of graduates from USAO are employed than from any other university in Oklahoma.
CAREER SERVICES
At USAO, individual students take responsibility for making decisions about their futures, and advisers assist students in choosing courses to complete a degree in their chosen fields of study. On campus, the university counselor, student life counselors, the staff of the student services office, resident assistants, and administrators provide students with information, motivation, and career-development opportunities.
Admission
FRESHMAN PROFILE
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
25th Percentile: 395 | 75th Percentile: 500
SAT Math
25th Percentile: 420 | 75th Percentile: 510
ACT Composite
25th Percentile: 19 | 75th Percentile: 24
ACT Math
25th Percentile: 18 | 75th Percentile: 25
ACT English
25th Percentile: 16 | 75th Percentile: 22
Tuition & Cost
Tuition (in-state): $6,030
Tuition (out-of-state): $16,380
Fees: $1,170
Room: $3,020
Board: $3,010
Contact University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Contact Admissions
usao.edu/future-students
(405) 574-1357
usao-admissions@usao.edu
Campus Location
1727 W. Alabama Avenue
Chickasha, OK 73018
(405) 224-3140
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