Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States.

The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (Oklahoma A&M), the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater is the flagship institution of the Oklahoma State University System, which enrolls more than 34,000 students across its five institutions with an annual budget of $1.86 billion for fiscal year 2024. As of Fall 2023, 26,008 students are enrolled at the university. OSU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, the university spent $226.5 million on research and development in 2023.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls have won 55 national championships including 53 NCAA championships, which ranks sixth in most NCAA team national championships after Stanford, UCLA, USC, Texas, and Penn State. As of 2021,^[update] Oklahoma State University students and alumni have won 34 Olympic medals (21 gold, 5 silver, and 8 bronze). The university has produced 48 Fulbright Scholars, an astronaut, and a billionaire.

Students spend part of the fall semester preparing for OSU's Homecoming celebration. Starting in 1913, the celebration now draws in more than 40,000 alumni and over 70,000 participants each year to the Stillwater campus. It is billed by the university as "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration." The Oklahoma State University alumni network exceeds 250,000 graduates.

On December 25, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature finally gained approval for Oklahoma Territorial Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) College, the land-grant institution established under the Morrill Act of 1862. The legislature specified that the college was to be within Payne County. Such an ambiguous description created a rivalry among towns in the county, with Stillwater ultimately gaining the campus. Upon statehood in 1907, "Territorial" was dropped from its title.

The first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891. For two and a half years, classes were held in local churches, until the first academic building, later known as Old Central, was constructed and dedicated on June 15, 1894, on the southeast corner of campus. It was surrounded by a flat plowed prairie.

In 1896, Oklahoma A&M held its first commencement with six male graduates. The first Library was established in Old Central in one room shared with the English Department. The first campus building to have electricity, Williams Hall, was constructed in 1900. Because of its turreted architecture, it was referred to as the "Castle of the Prairies"; It survived until 1969.

One of the earliest campus buildings was also a barn, used as part of an agricultural experiment station, which was served by a large reservoir pond created in 1895. The barn burned down in 1922, but the pond, enlarged and remodeled in 1928 and 1943, is now known as Theta Pond, a popular campus scenic landmark. In 1906, Morrill Hall was completed and became the principal building on campus. A fire gutted the building in 1914, but the outside structure survived intact, and the interior was reconstructed.