Friday, June 5, 2026
Caleson Coon, The O’Colly
Kacidie Wallace works 50 to 60 hours a week in addition to being a full-time student at OSU.
A potential tuition raise?
How it will impact working students Caleson Coon
dorm after finishing a nine-hour shift. She prepares to do it all For Kacidie Wallace, over again to support every paycheck goes herself financially toward her education at Oklahoma State — a possible tuition University. The secondincrease would alter semester freshman from those plans. Weatherford works at It’s Sunday night at OnCue Express fullapproximately 11:30 p.m., time, which ranges and only now is Wallace from 50 to 60 hours a arriving at Village B week on top of her full-
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
time course load as an aerospace management and operations major. Although OSU’s tuition has remained flat five of the last six years, an increase could come at any time and affect students across campus. “School’s always been my number one priority. I don’t want to leave, I don’t want to drop out.
I want to finish what I started,” Wallace said. “I love walking this campus — it’s absolutely beautiful. What keeps me motivated is the fact that I don’t want to leave.” From 2015 to 2025, OSU’s tuition and fees have increased from $20,978 to $25,630 with the rate of tuition increasing 22.18% in
those 10 years, according to College Tuition Compare. The most recent increase in tuition and fees was in 20212022, the first increase in three years, at 2.5% for in-state students. As the 2025-2026 academic year comes to a close, there is no certainty that tuition will remain flat for the sixth year in a row.
“If they raise tuition, I mean, it’ll come straight out of my pocket,” Wallace said. In response to a possibility of a tuition increase, Mack Burke, associate director of media relations at OSU, responded via email.
See TUITION on page 4A
Future of Kerr-Drummond still remains unclear Emi Sengvilay
O’COLLY CONTRIBUTOR
After eight years, Steve Spradling was hopeful that the beginning of a large project was finally in sight. Steve Spradling is the director of parking and transportation at Oklahoma State University. Since 2018, him and his team have been planning a solution for the parking issue on campus that could impact over 200 students. “We’re planning to build a parking lot when Kerr-Drummond is taken down, which I’m being told is pretty soon,” Spradling said. Kerr closed in 2015, while
Drummond closed in 2018. The mezzanine between the dorms closed following the completion of the Central Market Place. Since the building’s closure, plans have changed many times. In 2019, it was reported that the plan was to build a parking garage where Kerr-Drummond stands, but following the construction of the Wentz Lane Garage, Spradling no longer saw a need for one in that area. Instead, he looks to add a surface level parking lot. Spradling said traffic concerns and costs made a surface level lot more ideal than building another parking garage.
See FUTURE on page 3A
Caleson Coon, The O’Colly
Gustavo Rivera (left), Jacob Witthuhn (middle) and Jessi Varela (right) in the manufacturing lab as they hold their soon-to-be perfect prototypes.
13 OSU students make their way to NASA Caleson Coon
on Aug. 27, 2025, and one of the groups was given the opportunity to present its design to NASA. 13 Oklahoma State students The Passive Capture Tool Dock traveled to Houston, Texas to present proposal challenge acceptance was their model for The NASA Micro-g announced Jan. 27, 2026. OSU’s NExT program challenge. self-named team, H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. – As a part of the NASA STEM Hardware for One handed Retention Gateway, NASA program – Micro-g and Zero gravity Operation and Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Navigation – soon began building Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) – models in preparation of June 1-3 challenges undergraduates students where H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. will revise, to design, build and test a tool/device present and test their model. that aids NASA’s Artemis Mission. However, for some, there was reward Adjustable Tool Cart Handle and in addition to the excitement of Passive Capture Tool Dock were the being one of the 13 colleges in the two challenges for the 2025-2026 nation to present their model. competition cycle. Students split up into groups for each challenge back See NASA on page 2A EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Payton Little, The O’Colly
The Kerr Drummond dorms and dining hall stand tall on campus as of May 2026.