Comparing Non-Football Factors of OU and UT

Comparing Non-Football Factors of OU and UT
December 21, 2002

Below I've listed information on how how OU and UT compare in a number of areas other than their football programs. [This is very much a work in progress; check back from time to time.]

1. Academic Reputation

Academic reputations are typically based in part on how selective the school is, how much funding the school receives for research, what percentage of alumni support the school with contributions, physical assets (buildings, libraries, ...), the reputation of the faculty, and so on. Overall academic reputation is important, but if you're pretty sure of your major, the school's ranking for that particular major might be more important than the school's overall ranking. Although neither school is thought of academically as well as recently in football, both schools are highly ranked academically.

Overall (US News Ranking): Of 249 US and Canadian colleges that offer doctoral degrees UT ranks 47, and OU ranks somewhere between 52 and 129.
Overall (Rugg's Ranking): There are over 2000 U.S. and Canadian four year colleges and universities. Neither OU nor UT made Rugg's list of the top 139 4 year degree universities and colleges.
Overall (other rankings): [add other rankings]
By Major (Gourman Ranking): [add data from Gourman Report
By Major (Rugg's Ranking): [add data from Rugg's Recommendations]
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

2. College and Classroom Size

[need ways to quanitatively evaluate the benefits and detriments of size... as college increases in size, it can become more impersonal but it can also offer more)]

Really small classes OU: 56% fewer than 20 students UT: 40% fewer than 20 students
Really big classes OU: 12% have more than 50 students UT: 18% have more than 50 students
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

3. Location

UT fans will tell you that UT is the place to be academically and Austin is the place to live. OU fans obviously choose OU and Norman. I'm sure these UT fans deeply feel that Austin is much better than Norman (just like they feel that UT has a better football program than OU), but I wonder how many of them really know what living in Norman is like.

CNN produces an annual survey of the best places to live. If you compare Oklahoma City and Austin, you will discover that Oklahoma City leads in 4 of 8 categories (Weather, Housing, Economy, and Health), Austin leads in 2 of 8 categories (Crime, Quality of Life), and 2 categories are a toss-up (Education, Transportation). [Source: CNN.com for Austin metropolitab area and Oklahoma City metropolitan area and BestPlaces.com for city of Austin TX, city of Oklahoma City OK and city of Norman OK]

Location Category 1: People

PEOPLE
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Population	558,798 1,249,763	497,879 1,083,346	90,560 1,083,346	48,662
Population density	2,565.9	818.7	511.6	3,043.9
Population change	+18.9%	+6.9%	+17.4%	+11.6%
Median age	29.27	33.85	29.26	35.50
Income per capita	$21,357	$19,264	$20,163	$21,658
Household Income	$34,458	$35,315	$34,202	$44,958

Location Category 2: Weather

WEATHER
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Annual days with some precipitation	82	81	81	110
Annual days with mostly sun	231	237	237	213
Annual snowfall (inches)	1	9	9	24.2
Annual days < 32° F	23	80	80	88.0
Annual days > 90° F	101	64	64	37.9
Average high temp in July (°F)	95.9°	92.6°	92.6°	86.8°
Average low temp in January (°F)	39.3°	26.0°	26.0°	26.5°
Comfort Index** (higher is better)	16	23	23	34

Location Category 3: Crime

CRIME
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Violent Crime	529.1	859.3	159.6	446.1
Property Crime	6,616.1	8,460.2	3,390.0	4,162.2
Murder per 100,000 pop.	4.8	11.8	0.0	3.9
Rape per 100,000 pop.	42.6	84.0	28.9	32.8
Robbery per 100,000 pop.	182.4	224.6	30.0	116.3
Assault per 100,000 pop.	299.3	538.9	100.7	293.0
Burglary per 100,000 pop.	1,250.6	1,696.6	758.6	761.4
Larceny per 100,000 pop.	4,866.8	5,977.4	2,392.5	3,037.8
Auto Theft per 100,000 pop.	498.8	766.2	238.9	361.8
Personal Crime Risk (avg. is 100)	77 [142]	132 [282]	132 [282]	100
Property Crime Risk (avg. is 100)	98 [165]	155 [310]	155 [310]	100

Location Category 4: Housing

HOUSING
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Median Home Price	$130,850 $130,100 [218]	$76,210 $84,600 [26]	$85,550 $84,600 [26]	$146,102 $128,572
Annual property tax (per $1,000 of home value)	$25.10 $21.90 [261]	$10.60 $11.00 [76]	$12.80 $11.00 [76]	$16.43 $15.64
Home utility cost index	89.30 [68]	95.60 [109]	95.60 [109]	105
Home appreciation %	14.6% 11.1% [9]	5.0% 7.6% [144]	5.0% 7.6% [144]	7.8% 7.17%

Location Category 5: Education

EDUCATION
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
High School Grad.	82.0%	82.8%	87.3%	79.5%
2yr College Grad.	5.9%	6.1%	5.7%	7.6%
4yr College Grad.	26.0%	18.8%	26.1%	17.3%
PhD Graduates	13.6%	7.6%	16.3%	8.5%
Spending per pupil	$5,022 $4,927 [181]	$4,466 $4114 [307]	$4,153 $4114 [307]	$5,928 [$5,387]
Student/teacher ratio	16.2 14.1 [24]	16.5 15.5 [90]	16.4 15.5 [90]	17.7 16.95
Achievement Index (10=best)	6.4	5.1	8.4	5.1
Number of 4-year colleges	6 [56]	10 [27]	10 [27]	4.03
Number of 2-year colleges	3 [64]	4 [47]	4 [47]	2.77

Location Category 6: Economy

ECONOMY
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Cost of Living Index	103.5 96.2 [100]	85.1 90.3 [13]	87.6 90.3 [13]	100
Cost of Living: Housing	112.2	65.5	73.5	100
Cost of Living: Food	94.2	90.7	90.3	100
Cost of Living: Transportation	91.8	95.6	95.9	100
Cost of Living: Utilities	104.7	97.2	97.6	100
Cost of Living: Health	112.5	90.4	89.8	100
Cost of Living: Miscellaneous	100.9	97.5	97.0	100
Average state taxes paid as % of income	5% [4]	7.3% [216]	7.3% [216]	6.78%
Average state taxes paid as % of income	4.6% [208]	3.6% [103]	3.6% [103]	4.39%
Vehicle insurance expenditures ($ per person)	$1,088 [229]	$991 [131]	$991 [131]	$1,054

Location Category 7: Health

HEALTH
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Health cost index	99.2 [159]	89.9 [37]	89.9 [37]	103
Hospital beds	2,929 [74]	5,142 [43]	5,142 [43]	2,602
MDs per 10,000 population	15 [297]	52 [16]	52 [16]	28.2
Air quality index (higher is better)	46 [258]	51 [248]	51 [248]	65.9
Number of teaching hospitals	2 [111]	7 [43]	7 [43]	3.52

Location Category 8: Quality of Life

QUALITY OF LIFE
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Leisure Index (100 is best; 0 is worst)	13 [167]	8 [210]	8 [210]	19.42
Arts Index (100 is best; 0 is worst)	15 [62]	9 [160]	9 [160]	11.48

Location Category 9: Transportation

TRANSPORTATION
category	city of Austin in plain font Austin Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Oklahoma City in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	city of Norman in plain font Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in italics	Natl. Avg.
Commute Time	21.4 [255]	20 [207]	20 [207]	19.23
Commute Time	18.8 21.4 [255]	18.8 20 [207]	18.8 20 [207]	19.23
Mass transit availability	18.07 [29]	3.59 [139]	3.59 [139]	8.03
Number of airline flights	105 [91]	110 [88]	110 [88]	139
Number of Amtrak stations	3 [24]	1 [82]	1 [82]	1.20

Conclusion: Location is a very subjective issue. As the tables above show, both Norman and Austin have their strengths and weaknesses (I prefer Norman)..

4. Character Building

OU has been recommended by theJohn Templeton Foundation
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

5. Student Body

Diversity: OU: 8% American Indian, 6% Asian, 7% Black, 4% Hispanic, 5% International, 71% White UT: 0% American Indian, 15% Asian, 3% Black, 14% Hispanic, 3% international, 65% White
Socioeconomic background: OU: 50% of undergrads determined to have financial need UT: 45% of undergrads determined to have financial need
95% of UT's student body is from Texas. 84% of OU is from Oklahoma.
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

6. School Culture

OU is rated by Princeton Review as one of the top 10 Jock schools.
OU is rated by Princeton Review as one of the top 20 campuses where students pack the stadiums.
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

7. Campus

[add info on museums, libraries, academic centers, ...]
has a larger supercomputer.
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

8. Faculty

[list number of notable awards won by faculty]
[list faulty reputation rankings]
Conclusion: [too incomplete for assessment].

CONCLUSION

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trj@cs.stanford.edu -- Terry Jones

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Copyright © 2002 by Terry Jones.
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PEOPLE

WEATHER

CRIME

HOUSING

EDUCATION

ECONOMY

HEALTH

QUALITY OF LIFE

TRANSPORTATION