College Park Adds Engineering as Third Academic Pathway

Monday, May 8, 2023

Part of Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant

College Park, a partnership between Tulsa Community College and Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, is adding Engineering as a major area of study for Fall 2023 and applications are open now. Upon acceptance into the College Park Engineering pathway, students will be eligible for at least a $1,000 textbook and supply voucher and/or tuition scholarship as SPARK (Students Pursuing Aeronautics Related Knowledge) Scholars.

The College Park expansion is tied to the creation of the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility Corridor and funded through a U.S. Economic Development Administration Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant. As part of that grant, TCC joins OSU-Tulsa and other Tulsa-based organizations to help develop the TRAM corridor including increasing the region’s skilled workforce to support Advanced Mobility.

“College Park has a single focus to effectively and efficiently graduate more students with a bachelor’s degree in high-demand, high-pay areas,” said Dr. Leigh Goodson, TCC president & CEO. “We understand our workforce needs more engineers and we are actively working to fulfill that need. The Build Back Better grant will help us produce graduates who can support the current demands as well as the growth we expect to see in the state for air mobility and aerospace.”

College Park provides a seamless four-year public education experience on the OSU-Tulsa campus. By leveraging the infrastructure and resources of both institutions, individuals who want to earn a bachelor’s degree in Tulsa can stay close to home or work. TCC faculty teach the first and second years and OSU faculty teach the last two years. Plus, students have access to shared student services, including early advising, career counseling, research facilities and specialized faculty.

"Adding Engineering as a College Park pathway is a natural step as we expand industry-aligned education options for Tulsa’s workforce,” said Dr. Johnny Stephens, interim president of OSU-Tulsa and president of OSU Center for Health Sciences. “We’re looking forward to College Park students learning alongside upper-division and graduate students at OSU-Tulsa's Helmerich Advanced Technology Research Center. The opportunity to work with students at all levels and experience hands-on advanced technology research with OSU faculty brings another dimension to the College Park experience.”

The College Park engineering pathway includes an associate degree in engineering at TCC and a bachelor's degree in one of OSU-Tulsa's engineering majors. Students will also have opportunities for embedded internships with Tulsa employers.

“The College Park partnership, particularly for engineering, brings expanded opportunities for TCC students to do undergraduate research with OSU faculty and participate in professional societies connected to OSU in addition to the academic support and wraparound student resources provided by TCC,” said Dr. Sheila Youngblood, TCC dean of math and engineering.

To provide additional support for math, TCC is developing two paths for College Park - Engineering with a calculus cohort and a precalculus cohort. Individuals can start the Engineering program at either math level and then build additional math skills and receive additional academic support moving into Calculus.

$38.2 million grant

The Build Back Better Grant is an innovative combination of federal and private funding. At Oklahoma State University, funding will be used to create the LaunchPad Center of Advanced Air Mobility at the Helmerich Research Center on the OSU-Tulsa campus and support ongoing research activities at OSU, such as the NASA University Leadership Initiative led by OSU and the recent agreement between the state governments of Oklahoma and Arkansas to develop Advanced Mobility pilot programs across the border. The new center will focus on research and development of drone technology and urban air mobility — aka urban air taxis. The funding also will be used in the related development of flight test capabilities, and OSU researchers will work with the Osage Nation and its SkyWay36 Droneport northwest of downtown Tulsa.

TCC will receive roughly $3.1 million. In addition to developing and launching approved Engineering degree pathways consistent with the grant alongside OSU-Tulsa, TCC will use it to help increase enrollment in its engineering technology, electrical technician, and aerospace drafting certificate programs.

College Park provides a more structured experience and is designed for students to move through a series of classes as a group in the first two years before diverging to their major course of study. Plus, College Park students have additional financial resources such as scholarships, stipends, or textbook vouchers depending on the area of study and eligible students coming out of high school can use the Tulsa Achieves scholarship to pay tuition and fees for the first two years with TCC.

In addition to Engineering, College Park also has Business and Psychology pathways. Applications for all three for Fall 2023 are open. The priority deadline is Friday, June 30. Visit collegeparktulsa.com for more information