Is Oklahoma City University Worth It?

Oklahoma City University gives you a mixed financial return that depends almost entirely on which major you pick. The median graduate earns about $55k ten years out and leaves with roughly $21k in debt, which is manageable against that income. But the spread between programs here is wide enough that "median" hides more than it tells.

Nursing is the clear winner. You graduate earning near $64k while carrying the lowest debt of any program listed, under $14k. That combination pays for itself fast, and Oklahoma City's hospital market gives you somewhere local to use the degree. If financial return is your main goal, nursing is the reason to be here.

The arts programs are where the math turns against you. Music and theatre graduates earn in the mid-$20k range while borrowing around $26k. You take on almost double the nursing debt for less than half the pay. Teacher education lands in the same trap: about $33k in earnings against $26k in debt. These are passions people pursue knowingly, but go in clear-eyed about the numbers, because the debt does not scale down with the salary.

The specific risk here is program choice. A private-nonprofit price tag makes sense for nursing and makes little sense for an arts degree that earns less than the median. The 83% retention and 64% graduation rates mean most of you finish, so dropping out with debt and no degree is a smaller worry than picking a low-paying major.

On price, your bill drops sharply if your family earns under $30k, landing around $13k a year. Above $48k, net price climbs past $24k and keeps rising. If you are a middle or upper-income family paying full freight, only a high-earning major like nursing justifies the cost.