OSU-Cascades is a place where people make a difference in their own lives and invest their knowledge in the surrounding community and the greater world. Led by Oregon State University, the state’s premier research university and land grant institution, OSU-Cascades provides fully accredited master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees. Since 2001, OSU-Cascades has awarded more than 1,400 bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Central Oregon's University

OSU-Cascades was born nearly a decade ago of a grassroots effort put forth by Central Oregonians to bring a university to the region. In 2000, the Oregon University System selected Oregon State University, to build and manage a campus that would serve as a capstone to Central Oregon Community College, offering upper-division and graduate coursework towards bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The new university opened its doors in September 2001 with more than 300 students and eight majors. In addition to OSU, degree offering partners housed under OSU-Cascades’ umbrella included the University of Oregon.  Currently, about a third of OSU-Cascades students pursue degrees from UO.

Oregon’s Transfer University

Academic offerings and enrollment are enhanced through a partnership with Central Oregon Community College.  A shared campus and the Success by Degrees program allow students to conveniently take lower division coursework at the community college and to continue upper-division coursework and degree completion at OSU-Cascades.  The partnership can save more than 25 percent in tuition as compared to a traditional four-year university.  OSU-Cascades attracts about 40 percent of its students from COCC.  Students also transfer from community colleges throughout Oregon, as well as from four-year universities, making OSU-Cascades Oregon’s transfer university.

Faculty Excellence

OSU-Cascades' 25 full-time faculty include a Distinguished Professor, a Fulbright Fellow, a finalist for the Oregon Book of the Year award, and a Fellow of the International Canadian Studies Institute.  Full-time faculty are from both OSU and UO and include tenured and tenure-track professors, and instructors with real-world experience.  Professiorial faculty report to the Associate Dean of Academic Programs at OSU-Cascades and to their home departments at the main campuses of OSU or UO. In addition to teaching, many faculty assume research responsibilities bestowed on them by OSU or UO.  The academic programs are also supported by 25 part-time associate faculty.

COCC Partnership -Success by Degrees

In addition to a shared location that allows students and faculty to enjoy the amenities of a larger campus, the partnership with COCC brings cost savings and other benefits to students and to the region. Placebound students can complete a bachelor’s degree in Central Oregon, increasing the region’s educational attainment level. Lower tuition mean students save about 25 percent compared to a traditional four-year university. In addition, because of proximity and familiarity, COCC students can more easily transfer from lower division to upper division, and complete their degree.

Student Profile

Nearly 80 percent of OSU-Cascades students are from Central Oregon.  Students are only slightly older than traditional university students.  About 65 percent of students are enrolled full-time.  Women comprise 60 percent of undergraduate students.  In terms of diversity, 10 percent of the student body self-identifies as representing a minority.

Community Service and Outreach

As Oregon’s land grant university, OSU requires a service component of faculty members.  OSU-Cascades faculty provide research, expertise and leadership to businesses and organizations throughout Central Oregon.  Student opportunities have included research and internship programs with more than 150 of Central Oregon’s business, government and non-profit communities, as well as with the region’s school districts.

Free lecture series engage community members with faculty experts.  The campus annually sponsors the It’s in the Bag lunchtime lecture series and, in conjunction with the OSU Alumni Association, the Science Pub lecture series.