OSU Receives $156.5M in State Funding for STEM Education, Workforce Readiness Programs

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/18/24

Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., recently received a state budget allocation of $156.5 million to go toward the university’s STEM, OSU Polytech, and engineering programs, according to a news release. The record amount includes $80 million, which the university plans to match through private donations, for a new 220,000-square-foot life and physical science building.

The OSU System produced 37% of the state’s STEM graduates in 2023, more than 10% more than any other college or university in the state. According to OSU President Kayse Shrum, the new facility is crucial to the university’s goal of increasing its number of STEM graduates by at least 500 per year. Other goals of the project include recruiting researchers, addressing state health challenges, and boosting the economy, according to the news release.

"I am honored to lead the most extensive university system in a state that recognizes the significant impact of investing in higher education,” said Shrum. “By prioritizing these investments, we drive economic growth, cultivate a skilled and STEM-enabled workforce, safeguard our nation, and improve health outcomes for all Oklahomans.”

The other $76.5 million in the state appropriations will go toward investment in the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine, One Health and human performance research, and raises for Extension and experiment station faculty, the news release reports.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Greenheck Receives Sourcewell Cooperative Contract

    Air movement, control, conditioning, and distribution equipment solutions provider Greenheck recently announced that it has been awarded a Sourcewell cooperative purchasing contract, according to a news release. The HVAC Systems contract will allow Greenheck the opportunity to expand opportunities in government procurement and other public agencies in North America.

  • Ancient Resilience: How Indigenous Intelligence Shapes the 4Roots Education Building

    As climate change intensifies, educational spaces must evolve beyond basic sustainability toward true resilience – we must design environments that can adapt, respond, and thrive amid shifting, and intensifying, climate hazards. Drawing on indigenous wisdom and nature-based strategies, integrating resilient design offers a path to create learning environments that are not only functional but deeply in tune with their natural surroundings.

  • Fort Collins to Convert 1980s Office Park into Junior High School

    The Liberty Common School, a charter-public school in Fort Collins, Colo., recently broke ground on an adaptive reuse project that will convert an 1980s-era office park into a 45,000-square-foot junior high school for seventh- and eighth-grade students, according to a news release.

  • University of Connecticut Upgrades Basketball Facility’s AV Systems

    The University of Connecticut recently partnered with Metinteractive to upgrade the AV systems of the Gampel Pavilion basketball facility on its campus in Mansfield, Conn., according to a news release.

Digital Edition