Higher Education

Out-of-state students leave Oklahoma after graduation

December 18, 2025

Ray Carter

For the past two years, a majority of freshmen students at the University of Oklahoma have been nonresidents students from other states or countries, and in prior years a near-majority of OU freshmen students were from out of state.

At one level, that decision appears driven by OU officials seeking to maximize revenue since they charge far higher tuition to out-of-state students than what they collect from Oklahoma youth. Oklahoma resident students living on campus pay an average $31,733 combined in direct costs including tuition, fees, books and supplies, and housing costs, compared to an average $49,853 paid by nonresident students.

But the practice has also been defended as a benefit to Oklahoma since OU is importing college students to Oklahoma who can contribute to state economic growth after graduation.

However, a recent report from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education indicates the vast majority of those nonresident students leave Oklahoma within five years of graduation.

That has some officials questioning the wisdom of providing millions of dollars in annual taxpayer subsidies to OU if much of that money, at least indirectly, funds the education of students with no real ties to the state who appear unlikely to remain here.

“It seems like there is a disconnection between the state legislature and the University of Oklahoma,” said state Sen. Randy Grellner, R-Cushing. “It has become obvious that the Oklahoma taxpayer is subsidizing workforce development in other states.”

According to the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ budget portal website, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have requested more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding for the state’s college system next year, an increase of $426.2 million in taxpayer subsidies. State colleges and universities also collect tuition and fees on top of those appropriated dollars.

While state lawmakers do not typically direct specific funding amounts to any specific university, OU is expected to receive a substantial share of any systemwide appropriation to the college system since it is one of the state’s two largest universities by enrollment.

But a growing share of those funds will support the education of non-Oklahoma students at OU, at least indirectly.

Of 6,251 total OU freshmen students enrolled in fall 2025, just 47.6 percent, or 2,976 students, were from Oklahoma.

In comparison, Oklahoma State University’s freshman class this fall totaled nearly 5,200. But at OSU, 61.38 percent of this year’s freshmen class, or 3,167, were students from Oklahoma. That meant OSU enrolled more Oklahomans than OU even as OSU had a smaller freshman class.

That continued a trend that has been ongoing at OU for several years now.

In 2024, an analysis of OU freshmen released by the university showed that 47.8 percent of first-time freshmen at OU that year were from Oklahoma.

In prior years, Oklahomans barely represented a majority of freshmen students at OU.

For policymakers, those figures might represent a good trend if those out-of-state students remain in Oklahoma after graduation.

But 2024 Employment Outcomes, a report released by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, shows that most nonresident students leave Oklahoma within a few years of graduation.

The report notes, “Graduates are considered a non-resident if their original residence is listed as any state other than Oklahoma on their admission application, completed prior to enrollment at an Oklahoma public institution. As expected, employment rates for non-resident graduates are lower than the overall student population and Oklahoma resident population.”

Five years after graduation, the report shows that only 33.5 percent of non-resident students with bachelor’s degrees are employed in Oklahoma—or put another way, nearly seven in 10 nonresident students have likely left the state for employment elsewhere.

In contrast, among Oklahomans who obtain a bachelor’s degree from an Oklahoma university, the report found that 80.3 percent are employed in Oklahoma five years after graduation.

Not all out-of-state students leave Oklahoma after graduation. The Regents’ report shows that a majority of nonresident students who obtain an associate degree in Oklahoma—a two-year degree typically provided by community colleges—stay in the state. Five years after graduation, 56.8 percent of non-resident students with associate degrees remain employed in Oklahoma, according to the Regents’ report. That’s compared to 88.1 percent of Oklahomans who obtain an associate degree from a state school.

Even so, OU officials say Oklahomans are still getting a good return on their taxpayer spending at the school.

In a statement, OU officials said the university admitted all “qualified Oklahoma residents who applied” to the university and said state appropriations do not directly subsidize out-of-state students. The university noted that out-of-state students pay “significantly higher tuition” and said that revenue is used in part to subsidize Oklahoma students at the university. Nonresident undergraduates pay roughly 4.6 times more in net tuition and fees than do Oklahoma residents, which OU officials said “has helped reduce the net cost for resident freshmen by 27 percent since 2018–19.”

However, OU has steadily raised tuition rates for both in-state and out-of-state students in recent years, even as universities that are less dependent upon out-of-state students have often kept in-state tuition flat, such as OSU.

“OU continues to invest in career services, employer partnerships, and workforce-focused programs for all students that support Oklahoma’s economy,” the OU statement noted. “Recent state investments in workforce development and STEM education have been critical in supporting new facilities, faculty, and programs, helping OU advance its mission for students and the state.”

OU’s challenges attracting a larger share of in-state students may be tied to growing distrust of the value of a college education and a growing belief that colleges discriminate against conservative students in particular.

In September, Gallup polling found that only 35 percent of Americans now say college is “very important” while 24 percent say it is “not too important” and the rest hold views in between those two stances.

That’s a dramatic decline over the last decade-plus. In 2010, Gallup found that 75 percent of Americans said college was “very important” while only 4 percent viewed it as “not too important” at that time.

Notably, Gallup found that the share of college graduates who believe college is “very important” has also plummeted, falling from 78 percent in 2013 to just 40 percent in 2025.

Against a backdrop in which colleges have developed a reputation for hostility towards conservatives and Christians, support among Republicans has fallen dramatically. In 2013, Gallup found that 68 percent of Republicans said college was very important, but just 20 percent of Republicans held that view in 2025. Thirty nine percent of Republicans now believe college is not too important.

Given that roughly two in three Oklahoma voters cast a ballot for the Republican presidential candidate in recent elections, that perception may be especially challenging for colleges in Oklahoma.

In addition, both OU and OSU have received national attention for recent incidents in which university staff are accused of discriminating against conservative students.

If OU’s future is tied to growing enrollment from out-of-state students who will not remain in Oklahoma after graduation, Grellner worries it could lead to negative consequences for the Oklahoma taxpayers who substantially subsidize the university.

“To my fellow hard working and tax paying Oklahoma friends I would say, ‘Get ready for higher taxes and a poorer return on those taxes,’” Grellner said.