TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Sean Ashley. And our guest is the Chief Executive Officer for the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, Chancellor Sean Burrage, and we're so glad you could join us.
Chancellor Sean Burrage: Well, thank you for having me.
Shawn Ashley: Chancellor Burrage, in May, the State Regents approved a new performance-based funding formula for state colleges and universities. The formula rewards workforce development and goes into effect in fiscal year 2028, essentially a year away. How will that formula work?
Chancellor Sean Burrage: You know, actually it started this year, but we held all the schools harmless, so nobody lost money this year. Next year, though, it'll be in full effect. So, you're technically correct. What we hope to ensure is that the taxpayers’ dollars are put in the programs where the students are that will create a workforce. That's the ultimate goal. What had happened is, is due to no one's real fault, we kind of had a stagnant way we were distributing the money. It just didn't change every year. We just had whatever the number was we put it into this. It wasn't really a formula; it was more like a pie chart and then it all was divided the same way.
So now we're going to start looking at enrollment, enrollment in certain programs, outcomes, and then what kind of experiences those students are having on earnings and it's going to be a gradual, we're gonna kind of dip the toe in the water first and gradually each year it's gonna go up five percent more on what we're running through the form. But basically, it's to put the money where the students are. That are getting the jobs that make the difference to drive the economy.
Dick Pryor: The State Regents recently approved tuition increases at 16 colleges and universities, including OU and OSU. Affordability is always a concern, so these increases are not taken lightly. Why was this tuition increase needed now?
Chancellor Sean Burrage: You have a lot of factors. You have inflation. You also have increased health care cost. You also have a situation where these colleges and universities have not received an increase in appropriation over the same last few years. So those factors come together. You know, 16 did ask for a modest increase, nine did not. If you take it on average, it's about a 2.2% increase was actually less than inflation for the year. So basically, it was just keeping up with the market. And we think, you know, Oklahoma before the increase was one of the most reasonably priced places in the United States of America to go to college. And it still is today.
Shawn Ashley: The Regents have also approved the framework for a shorter degree program, requiring fewer than 120 credit hours for completion. Now, Governor Stitt had pushed for that. How are those degree programs going to work?
Chancellor Sean Burrage: Okay, well that's a really good question. I get that question a lot. So, they're called different things. They call them sub-120 credit hour degrees, reduced credit hour degrees. Some places are called applied bachelor's degrees, but basically it is a bachelor's degree that you can obtain with about 90 hours of credit versus the traditional 120. Now that's not going to be for every degree and in fact right now there are no 90-hour degrees that have been approved by the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education. But our framework has been approved, where a college now can come to the State Regents and ask for it to be approved under certain conditions.
Okay, first of all, you have to prove that the learning outcomes will be the same. You have to prove that you’ll have the same academic rigor, and then you have show that there is a workforce need. That when this student gets this degree, they're gonna have a job. And that the people on the other end of this formula, the people, the hiring, the employers are saying, “we want these students. We'll take these students.”
So, it's not going to be a catch-all. It's not gonna apply to all. Some people say it cheapens a bachelor's degree. That is not what it's meant to do. This is meant to have more people in the state of Oklahoma with bachelor's degrees that can fill the jobs we need. Just a side note, in Oklahoma, we have 29% of our population that has a bachelor’s degree or higher, which doesn't sound too bad. And if you live here, that sounds about right. Here's the problem. The national average is 37% of the citizens of the state have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Now, I don't believe we're any less intelligent than any other state. I think, in my opinion, we're more intelligent. But the problem with that statistic is when businesses or corporations or whoever's looking at where to locate a business, they want to know how healthy and how educated your workforce is. When you start off at a 8% deficit there, and if that were an election, you've just lost it a landslide, we need to get that number up to make us more competitive.
Dick Pryor: The Oklahoma's Promise Scholarship Program has seen a dramatic surge in applications this year, up almost 50% from 2025. Why is that happening?
Chancellor Sean Burrage: I think it’s a better awareness about the program. It's been a great popularity. We also have now what's called Oklahoma's Promise for Teachers. So, if you're a teacher in the state of Oklahoma and you've been a teacher, a classroom teacher for 10 years or more, your children can apply for the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship with only certain income limitations. Right now, for all citizens that income limitation, you adjust your gross income is between like 50 and $80,000 for a family. But the limit for a teacher is like $250,000 for the adjusted gross income. So, we're gonna have more people that are gonna come into the program.
Once again, the Oklahoma's Promise, what it is, it pays for your tuition at the college or university of your choice here in Oklahoma. It does not pay for your fees, it does not for your room and board, but it pays your tuition. And I think more and more people are seeing the value of this scholarship program. We now know that the Oklahoma’s Promise students usually come from poorer households in Oklahoma. They actually do better than the general population of college students. I think because they wanna be there, they appreciate what the state's doing for them and they're performing. So, the program’s had great success and hopefully we'll continue to see it grow in that more and more students that qualify for it will apply. Now, you also hope that as the adjusted gross income of the state goes up, maybe fewer people will qualify because we're all making more money.
Shawn Ashley: That's true. But with that growth, more money is needed to fund the program. The legislature increased the appropriation for the new fiscal year. Do you see that legislative investment continuing?
Chancellor Sean Burrage: I certainly hope so. And I have every indication that it will. There are some people that have been very dedicated in the legislature and Governor Stitt, have been dedicated to the program. So, I think they will. I mean, you just saw just this last year, you had, I think it was in 2025 session, they approved the Oklahoma’s Promise for Teachers. So, and I've seen there's other bills out at the Capitol to try to expand the program even more. So, I see a real commitment to the Oklahoma’s Promise program.
Uh, folks will say, well, that we don't like what you're doing in higher education. You know, you hear that from time to time. And, um, I, I like what we're doing out of education. We're making a difference. But if you talk about two things in Oklahoma, everybody likes. Everybody likes Oklahoma's Promise, right? And everybody likes the fact that we, that we covered the tuition for, uh, concurrent enrollment for juniors and seniors to take college courses. Those are two things that everybody seems to agree are really, uh, valuable programs here that we administer here at the State Regents.
Dick Pryor: Chancellor Sean Burrage, thank you so much for being with us today on Capitol Insider.
Chancellor Sean Burrage: It's my pleasure.
Dick Pryor: For more information go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU You Tube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org. And look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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