By Rod Jones
Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business will lower the rate of tuition for its graduate-level energy programs in response to the material downturn in the oil and gas industry.
The school will be restructuring tuition for new students in its two flagship master's degree programs in energy from $936 to $590 per credit hour, a 37 percent drop in the rate.
Business school Dean Steven Agee, who served as the president of an oil and gas exploration and production company for 24 years, said he understands the financial struggles due to the commodity price volatility of the industry.
“Given the energy industry’s response to the downturn, with layoffs, cutbacks and even some reorganization filings, we thought it would be appropriate to restructure the price of our educational products to assist current and prospective students,” Agee said. “Now is the time for industry employees to focus on a differentiator; that is, something that will separate one employee from another, particularly given that over the next 10 years many of the existing executives in the C-suite will be retiring. A master’s degree in energy management or energy legal studies could be the difference. Every CEO that comes to speak to my energy students reinforces the importance of continuing education.”
For more information about the tuition reduction, contact graduate advisor Cindy Treadway at [email protected]; call 405-208-5154; or visit the Meinders School of Business website at www.okcu.edu/business/graduate.
