University of Oklahoma

New security measures set to take place Saturday as the University of Oklahoma football team opens its season against Louisiana-Monroe at home are being delayed.

An emailed statement from OU President David Boren says fans will be allowed to bring "purses of reasonable size and seat cushions" into the stadium.

Earlier this week, the university was alerting football fans to restrictions that would have limited purses to 10 inches by 10 inches and ban seat cushions and chair backs.

It’s well known that college tuition and student debt rose steeply in Oklahoma over the past decade. But less familiar is how that trend has played out at individual colleges and types of schools.

The interactive graphic above adds clarity to the picture.

In the chart, each circle represents a school, is sized by enrollment and is colored by type of college – public, nonprofit or for-profit.

The University of Oklahoma says it will start offering students a flat-rate tuition and mandatory fees this fall.

OU President David Boren announced Thursday that full-time undergraduates taking between 12 and 21 credit hours per semester will pay a rate based on the university's current 15-credit hour rate for tuition and mandatory fees.

University of Oklahoma officials say a program that puts more course material online is saving students on the cost of textbooks.

OU President David Boren's office says the first year of the Textbook Alternatives Initiatives has saved students about 25 percent off the typical $1,400 yearly cost of textbooks.

OU is trying to push more material online after seeing a study that found up to 70 percent of students were not buying books because of the costs.

University of Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts has been named the top college softball player in the country for the second straight year.

The Amateur Softball Association of America Tuesday night announced that Ricketts won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. The other finalists were Oklahoma teammate Lauren Chamberlain and Tennessee's Raven Chavanne.

"It's definitely an honor to win the award with the girls I was going against, who have had amazing seasons so far," Ricketts says.

Daniel Rodriguez grew up about an hour from Norman. So, naturally, the Sooners were kind of a big deal. He knew from a young age, he would probably never step foot on Owen Field as a football star, but he also knew that wasn’t the only way, and in the fall of 2009, he fulfilled a lifelong dream when he sprinted onto the legendary field as a member of the Pride of Oklahoma. 

Although the United States is a popular destination for exchange students around the world, not all exchange students choose to study in Oklahoma. Adrian Guarrera (University of Nice, France) and Rich Dawson (University of Sheffield, England) about their first time experience in the Sooner State.

Dawson: My first time in Oklahoma was crazy, y’all.

Guarrera: My first time in Oklahoma was definitely unforgettable.

Dawson: We’ve been here since August of last year on an exchange year and we’re going to be leaving in like 3 weeks.