OU Achieves Highest Credit Ratings in Oklahoma, Signaling Progress, Confidence and Upward Momentum

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OKLAHOMA CITY – At today’s meeting of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. announced that the university has earned recognition from two of the world’s leading rating agencies, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, marking the highest ratings of any university in Oklahoma. These ratings reflect five years of measurable progress guided by the “Lead On, University” Strategic Plan, signaling a clear upward trajectory for the university.

S&P upgraded the OU Norman campus from A+ to AA- and the OU Health Campus from AA- to AA, while Fitch revised the Norman campus outlook to “Positive” from “Stable.” Nationally, OU joins a select group of leading public flagship universities to receive an S&P upgrade so far this year, demonstrating external validation of OU’s progress and stability. Within Oklahoma, the OU Health Campus now holds the highest credit rating among public and private universities.

“Just over five years ago, we set out with a bold vision to elevate the University of Oklahoma as the state’s flagship and a national model for impact,” Harroz said. “Since then, we’ve steadily strengthened our financial foundation, making disciplined choices that allow us to invest in academic excellence, affordability and research. These credit ratings reflect the tangible progress we’ve made, a counter-trend to national patterns, an external validation of our work, and a signal of upward momentum for OU and the state of Oklahoma. I’m grateful to our Board of Regents for their steady leadership in advancing the university to this point of strength.”

The ratings mark a significant milestone in OU’s multi-year effort to restore financial health while continuing to invest strategically in academic excellence, research growth and student affordability under the bold vision in the “Lead On, University” Strategic Plan.

Since embarking on this effort five years ago, OU has:

• Created OU Health – Oklahoma's first comprehensive academic health system – implementing bold structural changes to turn around the clinical enterprise from a $1.5 billion organization to a thriving, $3 billion organization that has emerged as the state’s top-performing health system. 
• Reversed the Norman campus’ 2015 credit downgrade through careful financial stewardship, including four bond refinancing and tenders that together save the university more than $4 million each year.
• Funded four consecutive faculty and staff raise programs and increased graduate assistant stipends.
• Established a dedicated deferred maintenance fund.
• Expanded affordability initiatives for Oklahoma students.

Combined with a reduction of $160 million in annual operating costs since 2019, OU's efforts have resulted in a 27% decrease over the last six years in the amount the average resident freshman pays to attend OU.

The results also validate the university’s integrated academic health system model, aligning faculty, researchers and clinicians around strategic priorities to advance health care and discovery. For the Norman campus, the upgrades recognize years of disciplined progress toward AAU-level distinction, including record enrollment, growing research activity, robust fundraising capacity and expanded affordability for students.

Looking ahead, Harroz indicated the strengthened financial position provides flexibility to move forward confidently with the “Lead On, University: The Next Phase” Strategic Plan and to seek additional state investment to expand OU’s role in workforce development and critical research areas such as aerospace and defense, weather, artificial intelligence and health research in cancer and diabetes.