For the better part of 50 years, the College of Liberal Studies has been operating on the south side of campus, yet many students may not know it exists.

The Liberal Studies program initially was intended for nontraditional students over the age of 25, according to Frank Rodriguez, coordinator of undergraduate studies for the college.

“This college is sort of the hidden gem at the university,” Rodriguez said. “We are uniquely situated to continue to grow in the foreseeable future.”

During this economic lull, many institutions of higher education are seeing an increase in enrollment, Rodriguez said. The difference, however, is that OU is not seeing an increase in traditional undergraduate enrollment.

“Our undergraduate population seems to be fairly stable,” said Cheryl Jorgenson, associate provost and director of institutional research and reporting. “We have seen a growth in our liberal ltudies enrollment.”

In Oklahoma, the State Regents policy for admission considers students over the age of 21 eligible for different admission criteria as nontraditional students, Jorgenson said. The average age of traditional undergraduates is 21.1 years, according to the 2010 OU Factbook. Conversely, the average age of students in the College of Liberal Studies is 38, Rodriguez said.

“Over the last four years, our [College of Liberal Studies] enrollment has increased pretty drastically,” Rodriguez said.

One of the reasons for this influx of student enrollment was the implementation of an online degree option, said Jennifer Gatlin, recent liberal ltudies graduate and University Student Services assistant. Convenience plays a huge part in the popularity of the online curriculum.

“Eighty to 90 percent of our students work full time while earning their degrees at our college,” Rodriguez said. “The convenience factor of our online programs continues to be popular with working students.”

The College of Liberal Studies was one of the first colleges to offer degree programs entirely online. Students have the option to earn up to a master’s degree through the online curriculum. While on-site courses are offered as well, the online coursework has grown dramatically in popularity, Rodriguez said.

“We have soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq right now. We have instructors who live on other continents and students from around the country,” Rodriguez said. “Even students as close as Norman seem to prefer the online courses.”

Degrees offered include liberal studies, criminal justice, museum studies and interprofessional human and health services.

“The program is designed to work with working adults,” Gatlin said. “You can be a full-time student, a full-time worker and a full-time parent and still get a quality education.”