December 4, 2015
OBU recently ranked as the top Christian college or university in the state of Oklahoma on a list of “50 Christian Colleges with the Lowest Debt Burden.” OBU also ranked 16th out of the entire nation. Debt burden is the average amount of indebtedness graduates owe for their college education upon graduation.
In an article published on www.christianuniversitiesonline.org, an independent resource informing prospective students and their families about Christian education, editor Anna Orr named OBU alongside other prominent Christian universities. “Understanding that the long term impact which student loan debt can have on a graduate, this ranking attempts to highlight schools that have done an excellent job in caring for their students not only academically, but also financially,” Orr said.
The methodology behind this ranking began with schools that are either members of or eligible for membership in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). Publicly available data from U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings was then gathered. Next, the average total indebtedness of the 2014 graduating class was used from the site as the single data point upon which this ranking was built.
OBU ranked sixteenth nationally and was ranked higher than any other Christian university in the state with an average total indebtedness of $24,400. In last year’s rankings, the average indebtedness for an OBU student was $26,557, a decrease of $2,157. While more than 99 percent of full-time undergraduates already receive financial assistance through aid and scholarships, the University announced earlier this fall that it will be offering guaranteed financial awards to all incoming freshmen beginning fall 2016.
This ranking comes on the heels of other national and regional recognitions for OBU, including a spot as the highest ranked private university in Oklahoma on Great Value College’s rankings of 50 Great Affordable Colleges in the Midwest; honors as a top 10 regional college in the West by U.S. News and World Report for the last 24 years; and Oklahoma’s highest rated regional college in the U.S. News rankings for 22 consecutive years.