(The Center Square) – Oklahoma’s 25 state colleges and universities will need more than $1.1 billion in funding in the next fiscal year, according to representatives from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
The amount is 12.2%, or $122.4 million more than last year's budget, Chancellor Allison Garrett told the Senate Education Committee on Thursday. The budget also includes $200 million in capital needs and maintenance on older buildings.
Before discussing the budget, Garrett told the committee that enrollment in state colleges and universities declined, but graduation rates were higher.
The number of degrees and certificates is up 8.1%, while the number of nursing degrees awarded is up 26.4%. 42.4% increase in STEM bachelor’s degree production; 26.4% increase in nursing degrees conferred at all levels.
“We continue to see huge increases in the demand by employers for degreed individuals," Garret said. "Last year we awarded almost 37,000 degrees and interestingly as we look at critical occupations, nearly 32,000 of those degrees were in those high demand fields. The higher the level of educational attainment, the more likely the individual is to be in the labor force in Oklahoma today.”
A large percentage of students are enrolled in critical occupation programs that train students for jobs where there are the most significant needs. Oklahoma Works website lists the top 100 occupations. Trucker drivers are at the top of the list, followed by managers, nurses and maintenance or repair workers.
Of those enrolled, 88.9% of students at the state system institutions were enrolled in programs directly aligned with Oklahoma’s critical occupations, and 86.1% of degrees and certificates conferred were in critical occupation fields of study.
“So the vast majority of students that are at higher ed institutions are studying in those high demand fields,” she noted. “We are really pleased that we see that across our system.”
via Oklahoma's Center Square News