Oklahoma's Private Universities, Colleges Facing Tight Budgets

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -- Oklahoma has about a dozen private colleges and universities. Most of them are church-related, and most are facing financial difficulties.

Two private universities facing tough times are located in Shawnee.

St. Gregory's University has been around since 1875 and has survived tough times before. The universities' 375 students study the Great Books, but to keep afloat financially, St. Gregory's is cutting personnel by 5 percent.

"This is a very small institution. We are heavily tuition driven, and so we have to consider some ways in which we can reduce the cost and yet maintain the quality of education we give," said David Marker, St. Gregory's interim president.

A mile away, at Oklahoma Baptist University, administrators are wrestling with the same challenges as St. Gregory, but so far they have not had to let anyone go. However, OBU is feeling the same economic pinch as the university down the road.

"We have an endowment that produces income for us each year, and obviously with the markets down endowment returns have been off in recent years," said Martin O'Gwynn, OBU spokesman.

To balance the budget, OBU will require its 1,700 students to pay 5 percent more in tuition next fall. OBU hopes that move will be enough.

Rather than raise tuition, St. Gregory's officials said the university will look to private donors for more support of its mission.

"We teach students how to write effectively, how to speak effectively and persuasively, how to calculate, how to think critically," Marker said.

The universities have survived hard times before, and they expect to still be standing when better times return.

St. Gregory's is the only Catholic University in Oklahoma.