By John Dobberstein, Editor
Gov. Kevin Stitt appears to be supportive of legislative efforts to evolve Northeastern State University’s Broken Arrow campus into a 4-year institution.
Stitt was speaking before business leaders Wednesday at the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce State of the State luncheon when he was asked about the issue.
Senate Bill 701, introduced earlier this year, would clear the way for NSU-BA to enroll freshmen on campus and offer lower-level classes. This would create the first 4-year public university in the Tulsa metropolitan area.
The bill is currently in the Oklahoma House and is reportedly undergoing significant changes, said Oklahoma Sen. Christi Gillespie (R-Broken Arrow), who co-sponsored the original legislation.
Stitt told business leaders the “free-market system” of higher education in Oklahoma has become distorted by politics and lobbyists, resulting in legislative edicts that certain universities cannot offer certain classes or degrees.
“I’m not opposed to the four-year (university) and I’m certainly not opposed to Langston teaching something or TCC teaching something. If I want to take an accounting class at your college, I should be able to do that,” Stitt said. “But there’s all these rules about how you can only do this here, you can only do that here.
“That makes no sense. So we’d love to get the four-year university here, but I want to break through some of that silo and not give you a monopoly. I want you to be able to compete against OSU or TCC or Langston or whoever else decides to be here.
“But we believe in that free-market system, so you have a four-year university. I think it’s great.”
The bill that has progressed most of the way through the House and Senate would clarify that NSU-BA is located in Broken Arrow, and it would authorize lower-level classes and admission of freshmen.
Proponents of NSU-BA’s push for change note that Broken Arrow is one of the largest cities in the nation to not be served by any 4-year universities, and Tulsa is one of the largest metro areas in the U.S. with no public 4-year school.
Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma chose to build satellite campuses in Tulsa, but their main campuses remain in Stillwater and Norman. The University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University are 4-year schools but are private institutions.
NSU President Rodney Hanley said earlier this year that one of his highest priorities since arriving in 2023 was, “to get the BA campus opened up” so students who want another option besides attending community college can get the full university experience.
“And having a 4-year university in Broken Arrow will contribute to the economic development of the entire Broken Arrow community and the entire region. This is very important to us at NSU,” Hanley said.
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