Leaders from Oklahoma City University and Oklahoma City Community College met Thursday to sign an articulation agreement and highlight scholarships available for students from OCCC who want to work toward a bachelor’s degree in business or nursing.
The presidents of the two schools attended a campus celebration at OCCC on Thursday morning, where they inked the articulation agreement. The agreement indicates the schools’ intentions to help increase opportunities for OCCC students to continue their education at OCU.
It calls for the two schools to work collaboratively to identify courses for OCCC students to take and transfer to OCU, and for faculty from the schools to meet to develop advising agreements for students to help remove barriers to entry and to ensure students are aware of the pathway to OCU.
The articulation agreement aligns with a pair of scholarship offerings made possible by OCU alumnus and Oklahoma City philanthropist Herman Meinders.
The Meinders Business Transfer Scholarship provides funds from $4,000 up to $8,000 a year to up to 15 OCCC students who transfer into OCU’s Meinders School of Business. The award is available to OCCC transfer students on a first-come, first-served basis; the amount is based on a student’s college GPA, with qualification starting at a GPA of 2.5.
Additionally, Meinders has made funds available through the Kramer Transfer Scholarship to support up to 10 OCCC students per semester who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing, with scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 a year, depending on college GPA. Those funds will be available for the fall 2023, spring 2024 and fall 2024 semesters.
“It is my privilege to be able to support our city’s next generation of business and health care leaders,” Meinders said. “I know the difference an OCU education can make in a student’s life, so opening doorways to an OCU degree is especially important to me.”
OCU President Kenneth Evans said the university and its students remain, “Ever-thankful to Herman Meinders for his ongoing support. These scholarship funds and our articulation agreement will help formalize the pathway for OCCC students who want to further their education and development at OCU.”
The Meinders Business Transfer Scholarship is one of several stackable scholarships at OCU that are available to transfer students. With some of those scholarships awarded automatically based on GPA, a number of OCCC students who study business at OCU could qualify for more than $24,000 in scholarships per year.
The nursing scholarships are also stackable on top of existing merit-based, automatic scholarships. Transfer students from OCCC entering the Kramer School of Nursing – but not pursuing the RN-BSN degree track – could receive up to $11,500 in additional scholarships, depending on their GPA.
Dr. Mautra Staley Jones, president of OCCC, expressed her enthusiasm for the partnership.
"This articulation agreement and generous scholarship offerings are a testament to the power of collaboration between our institutions,” Jones said. “I am genuinely proud to see our students allowed to expand their horizons and achieve their academic and career goals. Together with OCU, we are fostering a brighter future for our students and the community.
“I wholeheartedly thank Mr. Meinders for his commitment to making higher education accessible and empowering the next generation of leaders in business and health care."
In addition to the OCCC-specific scholarships, OCU offers funding opportunities for transfer students from other two-year colleges in Oklahoma. Prospective transfer students interested in learning more about scholarship offerings at OCU can find more details by visiting the university’s scholarship information page.
Additional information about OCU is available at www.okcu.edu, while students can learn more about OCCC at www.occc.edu.
