Mission Statement

The University of Central Oklahoma exists to provide excellent undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education to enable students to achieve their intellectual, professional, personal, and creative potential. UCO must also contribute to the intellectual, cultural, economic, and social advancement of the communities and individuals it serves.

Beliefs & Values

UCO’s fundamental responsibility is excellent teaching, which involves instilling and fostering in students the joy of learning, the ability to think critically and a desire to achieve their creative potential.

Our other major responsibilities include scholarly activities, research and service to students, to other individuals and to the larger community.

A college degree should represent an education which enables its recipients to become good citizens and responsible, independent adults who embrace learning as a lifelong endeavor.

Great universities must require and encourage a free flow of information, ideas and opinions in a community which fosters social justice, values diversity and demands the highest standards of ethical conduct, mutual respect and civility.

UCO as an institution, and all its constituents, must be committed to continuous processes of self-examination and self-improvement which encourage innovation, receptiveness and adaptation to change.

UCO must seek and maintain open and mutually beneficial relationships with its surrounding communities, and must also view itself and its graduates as part of an increasingly interdependent global society.

History

Today’s University of Central Oklahoma is the oldest institution of higher learning in Oklahoma dating back to Dec. 24, 1890, when the Territorial Legislature voted to establish the Territorial Normal School.

The Territorial Legislature located the new school in Edmond, provided certain conditions were met. First, Oklahoma County had to donate $5,000 in bonds, and Edmond had to donate 40 acres of land within one mile of the town. Ten of those acres had to be set aside for the new school. The remaining land had to be divided into lots that would be sold to raise money for the new school.

The conditions all were met, with the city of Edmond donating an additional $2,000 in bonds. The first class, a group of 23 students, met for the first time Nov. 9, 1891, in the Epworth League Room, located in the unfurnished First Methodist Church. A marker of Oklahoma granite was placed in 1915 near the original site by the Central Oklahoma Normal School Historical Society. It can be seen at Boulevard and Second Street.

Work started in the summer of 1892 on Old North Tower, the first building on campus. Occupancy began Jan. 3, 1893. The school first operated as a normal school with two years of college work and a complete preparatory school. In 1897, the first graduating class — two men and three women — received their Normal School diplomas.

In 1904, Territorial Normal became Central State Normal School. Statehood was still three years away. On Dec. 29, 1919, the State Board of Education passed a resolution making Central a four-year teachers’ college conferring bachelor’s degrees. It was renamed the Central State Teachers College.

Two years later, the Class of 1921 had nine members, the first graduates to receive the four-year degrees. In 1939, the state legislature passed a law renaming the institution. The new Central State College was authorized to grant degrees without teaching certificates.

In 1954, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education gave Central permission to offer the Master of Teaching Degree, which became the Master of Education in 1969. In 1971, the college was authorized to grant the Master of Arts in English and the Master of Business Administration degrees.

On April 13, 1971, the state legislature officially changed the institution’s name to Central State University. On May 18, 1990, during the university’s Centennial Year, legislation was passed changing the name to the University of Central Oklahoma.
Today, the Territorial Normal School has grown from 23 students on the frontier in 1891 to a metropolitan, four-year university with an enrollment of about 15,500 on a 200-acre campus.

Location

The University of Central Oklahoma is located in Edmond, considered by many to be Oklahoma’s “Crown Jewel” community. Edmond is one of the state’s most desired places to live with its thriving historic downtown, excellent school system and fantastic cultural offerings. The community enjoys year-round music, art, theater, water and sporting events. Known worldwide for its outstanding golf courses, Edmond hosts some of the most exciting PGA and celebrity events. Edmond tennis courts have a history of hosting USTA tournaments. Also available are competitive soccer fields, including one indoors, and competitive ice skating and roller skating facilities. The Lazy E Arena, the country’s largest indoor arena, provides a full calendar of rodeo events. Lake Arcadia is just minutes east of the campus, offering hiking trails, fishing and water skiing. And, fifteen minutes south is downtown Oklahoma City with its great attractions. In addition, there is Oklahoma’s state Capitol, the Oklahoma City Zoo, the Omniplex and a surrounding complex of museums just as close. Then there’s July 4th and Edmond’s LibertyFest, selected as one of the top 10 places to be in America by CNN and USA Today.

Degrees

Bachelor of Applied Technology
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts in Education
Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts Education
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music Education
Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science in Education
Master of Arts
Master of Business Administration
Master of Education
Master of Fine Arts
Master of Music
Master of Science

Enrollment Statistics & Demographics

Today approximately 420 full-time and 380 adjunct faculty teach a total of almost 16,000 students enrolled in five undergraduate colleges and a college of graduate studies and research.  To view specific enrollment statistics and demographics, visit the Institutional Research web site.