Northern Oklahoma College

Northern Oklahoma College

The Tonkawa campus in late 2013.
Motto	"Life changing."
Type	Public
Established	1901
President	Dr. Cheryl Evans (2011-Present)
Location	Tonkawa, Oklahoma, USA
Nickname	Tonkawa - Mavs
Mascot	Tonkawa - Mavericks Enid - Jets
Website	www.noc.edu

Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) is a community college located in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, with additional campuses located in Enid, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,700. NOC bought the former Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma in 1999, and has turned it into the NOC Enid campus.

The history of Northern Oklahoma College began in 1901 when the Honorable James Wilkin realized the need for a college in the Tonkawa, Oklahoma area. Thus, the sixth Territorial Legislature passed an appropriation bill on March 1, 1901 for the establishment of the University Preparatory School at Tonkawa. The doors opened to 217 students and 7 faculty. From 1913 to 1915, it was known as the Oklahoma Institute of Technology.

The school closed during World War I from 1917 to 1919, when Governor Robert L. Williams vetoed the appropriation bill for the biennium. It reopened September 2, 1919, after Gov. James B. A. Robertson signed an appropriation bill for its reestablishment. College-level courses were added in 1921, the college was named Northern Oklahoma Junior College in 1941, and the high school curriculum was phased out by 1951. The school was renamed Northern Oklahoma College in 1965.

During the first two decades, the school served primarily as a "feeder" institution for the University of Oklahoma and paralleled the university curriculum of music, foreign languages, business, literature, and military science. In addition, the school served as a cultural center for the performing arts, a distinction that continues today with the 2006 dedication of the Kinzer Performing Arts Center.

Of utmost importance was the school's first accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities in 1948. Then, with the passage of the Higher Education Code in 1965, the institution received its present name, Northern Oklahoma College, and the three-person Board of Regents was expanded to five members. Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard became the tenth president; he served for twenty-five years and retired as the college's president holding the longest tenure. During his administration the campus underwent an expansive building program. During the last two decades, Northern has expanded its physical plant, broadened its curriculum, increased its student enrollment, and developed campuses in Enid and Stillwater.

Additionally, Northern is a leader among Oklahoma colleges in technological advances in developing multiple on-line and interactive television courses that serve students in rural and remote areas who could not otherwise attain a college degree. The educational achievements of this school, and the opportunities it affords for the expansion of knowledge, culture, and training are manifest in the recognition and support currently and historically given it by area residents and businesses, by state agencies, and by Oklahoma peer institutions. NOC is nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute in Washington DC as being in the top 10 percent of community colleges in the country.