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Rose State College is a public
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...
in
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 2010 census, the population was 54,371, 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 College
[Britton, 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
The Mid-Del School District is a school district based in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. It serves all of Midwest City and Del City, as well as a portion of Oklahoma City. As of 2007, the school district served more than 14,500 K-12 studen ...
school superintendent.
The school was renamed Rose State College by Senate Bill Number 9 in April 1983 that went into effect on November 1, 1983.
Rose State College offered its first classes on September 21, 1970.
Voters in
Midwest City,
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 capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
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 destroyed 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 deter ...
, 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
The college has a regular enrollment of more than 8,000
students 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 (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
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 R ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, marking the U.S. entry into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. 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 County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City.
The base, origina ...
. 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](_blank)
(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
Educational institutions established in 1970
1970 establishments in Oklahoma
Education in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Buildings and structures in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Midwest City, Oklahoma
Community colleges in Oklahoma