TCC Students Take The Next Step In Pursuing Higher Education Thanks To 'College Park' Program

Tulsa Community College and OSU Tulsa launched the College Park program two years ago.

The first group of students to go through the program are now moving from TCC to OSU Tulsa.

College Park provides an affordable degree program for students who want to stay in Tulsa. The hope is that students will also be able to graduate and land high-wage jobs in the city they call home. The proximity to home is one of the main reasons a student like Alexander Ziegemeier decided to enroll in College Park two years ago.

"I just wanted to also just be able to stay home. I grew up in the area, so I also wanted to be able to just stay home and go to school and it’s cheaper. I didn’t have to move to Stillwater, and I wanted to do something to where I had the opportunity maybe later to get to OSU Stillwater," Ziegemeier said.

The Dean of the OSU College of Professional Studies, Craig Freeman, said that it's a good idea to try and get students who understand Tulsa, want to study in Tulsa, and then get a good job in Tulsa once they graduate as more jobs move into the area.

The program itself started out small, offering only a business track. Now, College Park is also offering psychology and engineering tracks. Based on the success of the program, Freeman hopes that College Park continues to grow.

"What we did was start this small and are now looking to really expand, and so I think cohorts of 20 made sense when we first started to figure out how this works. I think we’d love to have cohorts of 200 and so we’re going to expand this I think very significantly soon," Freeman said.

There are also scholarship opportunities for students looking at College Park, and anyone interested in the program can learn more here.