University of Central Oklahoma

Welcome to the University of Central Oklahoma, one of our state's great public universities, dedicated to developing in students the confidence to succeed through transformative learning experiences. With strong connections throughout the Oklahoma City metro, Central serves the community through innovative collaborations and partnerships, helping to foster the Oklahoma City metro’s growth and development.

Central is a university committed to preparing our students to be professionals who are ready for whatever comes next and ensuring that students graduate as productive, creative, ethical and engaged adults. Through initiatives like Transformative Learning, we help students find their personal path to success, as faculty and staff consider students their first priority.

This transformational journey is guided by our core values of character, civility and community, and articulated in what we call the "Central Six." It begins with the student's selection of one of our more than 100 major areas of study, through which a foundation of discipline and knowledge develops. The journey continues, as our students are encouraged to take a role of leadership centered on learning and focused by integrity, stewardship and service. They learn, through research, scholarly and creative activities, to solve problems. They become involved in activities that will prepare them for civic engagement, ethical reasoning and lifelong learning. They learn to communicate effectively in a complex world, to function in diverse environments and to adapt to the continuously changing global society. Our students learn that health and wellness are central to living a full life, with vitality and meaning.

The University of Central Oklahoma is creating a pathway to relevance and distinction that distinguishes us among our peers. At a time of momentous challenge and profound change, Central has committed itself to creating and sustaining a culture of learning. As you, and others, assess the value of institutions to meet the challenge of change, we are able to respond with clarity and vision.

With strong connections throughout the Oklahoma City metro, the University of Central Oklahoma is dedicated to developing in students the confidence to succeed through transformative learning experiences. Central prides itself as a smart investment for success, preparing future leaders in an opportunity-rich environment, with access to more than 200 student organizations and the internship, employment, entertainment and cultural offerings of the rapidly growing Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Founded in 1890 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Central connects its more than 16,000 students to unmatched value found in 115 undergraduate areas of study and 74 graduate programs from its main campus in Edmond and facilities throughout the metro area.

The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) exists to help students learn by providing transformative education experiences to students so that they may become productive, creative, ethical and engaged citizens and leaders serving our global community. UCO contributes to the intellectual, cultural, economic and social advancement of the communities and individuals it serves.

The University of Central Oklahoma, as Oklahoma’s metropolitan university committed to helping students learn, embraces its role as a collaborative partner and leader to meet the educational, business and community aspirations of the Greater Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. Our dynamic metropolitan region shapes the university even as the university contributes to the cultural, social, economic, and intellectual life of the region to realize our shared future. Metropolitan engagement informs every dimension of the university’s activities in cultivating learning, discovery of new knowledge, and encouraging shared leadership to the extent that this synergy will inspire others to recognize UCO as one of the nation’s leading metropolitan universities.

The University of Central Oklahoma will actively respond to the needs and opportunities of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area by pursuing innovative partnerships, by adhering to our fundamental commitment to provide transformative teaching and learning experiences to our students, by engaging our students in experiential learning activities that advance the quality of life for all, by supporting life long learning and work force development and expansion, and by the impactful contribution of our research and professional services expertise to the metropolitan area.

Through access to a high quality, affordable transformative teaching and learning experience, we seek to educate creative, collaborative graduates who are adaptable and engaged critical thinkers, who are receptive to new ideas, who celebrate the diversity of our region, and who will live fulfilling lives.

Through the cultivating of partnerships throughout the metropolitan area and beyond, we serve the needs of our community, and provide graduates who are equipped with the skills to assist the metropolitan area to thrive in a competitive global environment.

Through professional services and research, we provide leadership and counsel on issues vital to the health of the metropolitan region’s businesses and industry, education institutions, families, and to its cultural quality of life.

Through its ethos of inclusion, transparency, collaboration, and respect across the institution that recognizes the unique and individual value of each of its traditional and non-traditional students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni, the University of Central Oklahoma will be recognized nationally for its living and learning-centered environment.

The University of Central Oklahoma is the Leadership University, delivering education based on our shared values of Community, Character and Civility. UCO transforms each student by focusing our resources on the Central Six tenets of transformative learning.