Oklahoma State University is a major land grant university with an enrollment of over 20,000 students. It has a long record of excellence in teaching and research, especially in the basic and applied sciences. Its large and diverse student body comes from every state and 67 foreign countries. Its physical facilities and libraries are outstanding for both research and instruction. Admission to the university is selective. The largest college is the College of Arts and Sciences. The Graduate College has an enrollment of 3500 students.
Among institutions of its size, Oklahoma State has perhaps been unique in the emphasis it has given to its concern for the welfare of individual students. The University has sought to maintain not only the availability of the superior resources naturally associated with large universities but also the close personal contact and its sense of community usually expected only in smaller institutions.
The University is located in Stillwater, a town of 40,000 and is within an hour's drive of Tulsa and Oklahoma City. By virtue of being a college town, Stillwater has many of the cultural advantages associated with metropolitan areas. The climate is mild. The average annual temperature is 61 degrees ( 16 C) with an average rainfall of 33 inches (85 cm) annually. The average temperature is 30 degrees ( -1 C) in winter and 86 degrees ( 30 C) in the summer.