Rose State College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Midwest City, Oklahoma Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,409, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The city was developed in r ...

History

Rose State College was originally named Oscar Rose Junior CollegeBritton, Terry D.,
Rose State College
"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
' (accessed May 6, 2010) in memory of Oscar V. Rose, a former Mid-Del School District school superintendent. The school was renamed Rose State College in April 1983 by Senate Bill Number 9, which went into effect on November 1, 1983. Rose State College offered its first classes on September 21, 1970. Voters in

Midwest City Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,409, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The city was developed in ...

, Del City, and portions of southeastern and northeastern

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

approved the college district in 1968. This vote followed passage of Senate Bill Number 2 in 1967, a law enabling district-operated community colleges to receive state aid. Voters then passed a $1.75 million general obligation bond issue, a two-mill levy for operating expenses in 1969, and a three-mill levy for operations in 1970. In December 1973, the junior college became a member of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, after approval from the Rose State College Board of Trustees. Rose State College exists as a publicly created and sustained, open-admissions, associate degree-granting college to provide comprehensive lower-division programs of higher education and related community services. To meet enrollment growth, the Communication Center was built in 1998, providing art, music, and journalism classrooms as well as a home for theatrical and musical performances. Part of the college was impacted by a tornado on May 3, 1999; some of the damage in this area was rated high-end F4 on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

, although F5 was considered. Popularity of the dental hygiene and dental assistant programs led to the construction of the Health Sciences Annex, completed in 2001. Rose State College has grown from an initial enrollment of 1,700 in 1970 to a regular fall enrollment of approximately 8,200. The campus now includes twenty-two buildings on approximately .

Academics

2011 Graduating Class of Rose State College - Respiratory Therapists

The college has a regular enrollment of more than 8,000

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...

and covers over . Rose State offers scholarships to students including Leadership Scholarships and the Ticket to Rose Program. Ticket to Rose provides free tuition and mandatory fees for graduates of Midwest City High School, Carl Albert High School, Choctaw High School, Del City High School, and Star Spencer High School.

Student life

Rose State's colors are blue and gold, and their mascot is the Raider, based on Doolittle's Raiders, best known for leading a bombing run on

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

on April 18, 1942, shortly following the bombing of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, marking the U.S. entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The college serves hundreds of military personnel each year due to its proximity to

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, adjacent to Del City and Midwest City. The ba ...

. The college runs a student newspaper, entitled ''The 15th Street News'', and hosts a number of community events throughout the year.Rose State College Website
(accessed May 6, 2010). On the campus of Rose State is "The Village," a complex of apartment-style housing capable of accommodating up to 180 students.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control OK Cooperative Alliance Universities and colleges established in 1970 1970 establishments in Oklahoma Education in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Midwest City, Oklahoma Community colleges in Oklahoma Two-year colleges in the United States