Key Takeaways

• Records requests submitted over two semesters show delays, missing details and limited explanations.
• A request about spending on mascots left out basic cost information.
• UCO’s tuition and fees have climbed faster than OU’s and OSU’s since 2008.
• Rising costs and delayed records raise questions about UCO’s identity as an affordable, student-centered university.

Open records requests submitted by The Independent View to the University of Central Oklahoma between November 2025 and January 2026 took months to resolve, with some returning limited records or none at all.

Over the course of two semesters, attempts to obtain basic public records on university spending, salaries and communication policies were met with delayed responses, incomplete document production, and, in one case, a determination that no responsive records existed. Follow-up requests for clarification often went unanswered for weeks or months. 

A Nov. 11 request for financial records related to the creation of UCO’s second mascot, Buck the Broncho, received a response two months later that included a consulting agreement and maintenance purchases. The university marked the request complete, but the records left out what students would actually want to know, such as the cost of the costume, who was paid and the total cost of the project.

A follow-up sent Jan. 27 identifying those gaps and requesting an explanation went unacknowledged until a second email in April. When the university finally responded, it said all records had been provided and gave no explanation.

A Nov. 19 request for records on how resident assistants interact with media was not fulfilled for two months. 

A Jan. 1 request for senior administrative salary information remained incomplete for more than three months. 

These are just a few examples from a longer list compiled over the past two semesters. Each case on its own might be explainable, but together they show a pattern that is inconsistent and dismissive.

Under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, public institutions are required to provide prompt, reasonable access to records. In practice, UCO has stretched that standard to the point where it becomes meaningless.

When enrollment is tied directly to public image, it makes sense that any university would want to control that. 

According to an analysis by Curtis Shelton of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, tuition and fees at Oklahoma’s three major public universities increased by an average of 31 percent from 2008 to 2024 when adjusted for inflation. UCO’s increase was 55 percent, compared to 20 percent at the University of Oklahoma and 18 percent at Oklahoma State University.

Data from CollegeSimply shows that before fees and housing, OU’s tuition is actually lower than UCO’s. After aid, the difference is negligible, with Niche.com estimating OU’s net cost at about $90 less per year.

And while OU maintains national and international rankings, UCO remains limited to regional classifications. Even within Oklahoma, according to College Raptor, OU ranks second in the state, while UCO sits at 16th.

So what exactly are students paying for when they enroll at UCO?

UCO has always sold itself as the cheaper, smaller, more personal alternative. A place where you are not just another face in a lecture hall. That only works if it is actually true. As UCO pushes toward R2 and eventually R1 status, more time will go to research and less will go to students. If the cost continues to climb, and the transparency is worse, and the experience starts looking more and more like every other school, the pitch falls apart. Conversations that used to be “Well why don’t you try UCO? They’re just down the road and cheaper,” have turned to: “Have you seen the rates at UCO? Might as well just go to OU or OSU.” 

Most students at this commuter university will not track open records requests or question administrative decisions, but they’ll eventually feel the decline. It’s up to The Independent View and other campus media to keep the student body informed and hold their university accountable.

Students should not have to chase down basic public records. They should not have to wait months for answers or be left guessing whether records exist at all. Transparency toward students should be the baseline expectation of a university.

How you treat your student journalists is a reflection of how you’re willing to treat your overall student body, and that is a worrisome prospect for the current and future students of UCO.