By K.S. McNutt Staff Writer kmcnutt@oklahoman.com
ARDMORE — East Central University in Ada is phasing out its instructional programs at the University Center of Southern Oklahoma in Ardmore to cut costs.
"By pulling out, we will be able to fully commit to our programs in Ada," ECU President Katricia Pierson said.
In the past two years, the ECU programs at the University Center have operated in the red, losing about $200,000 each year, Pierson said.
During the same time, ECU's state funding was cut $3.5 million.
The university will increase tuition 5 percent beginning with the fall semester, but projects $1.6 million less in tuition revenue during 2017-18 due to declining enrollment, Pierson said in June.
ECU's enrollment was down 6.3 percent last fall — from 4,447 in 2015 to 4,169 in 2016, spokeswoman Amy Ford said.
As of spring 2017, ECU had fewer than 50 human resources majors and less than 30 nursing majors at University Center of Southern Oklahoma, Ford said.
ECU students currently in the programs — including those who have enrolled for the 2017 fall semester — will have the opportunity to complete their degrees at the Ardmore site, but no new students will be accepted after the fall 2017 semester, Ford said.
"We know that our students have invested their time, energy and money in attending ECU. We will work with students on a case-by-case basis to ensure we do everything possible to help them complete their degree at ECU," Pierson said.
The teach-out plan includes classroom instruction, online courses and Web EX Classroom — a web conference tool for live interaction between the student and instructor.
Read more on NewsOK.com
via NewsOK.com RSS - politics >> !The Oklahoman