As technology advances, the modern scholar is finding it easier and easier to access astounding advancements in information technology. While clearly this advantages today’s college students, Oklahoma’s institutions of higher learning are employing a more cautious approach to keeping pace with technological applications.

Adoption of new technology certainly affords universities many opportunities to connect with students through such avenues as iPhone applications, YouTube channels or school-sponsored Twitter feeds.

The University of Oklahoma, for example, has done well to remain on the forefront of development, with products such as its pair of iPhone applications, OU2GO and OU4YOU. The first program, released two years ago, provides several features to students, such as a campus map, a news feed, media on the school and archives of campus traditions. OU4YOU allows students to access more personalized features, such as grades and course information, a method for renewing library books and real-time updates on the campus’ rapid transit system.

“Both apps are free to download for iPhone and iPod and will soon be optimized for the iPad,” says Catherine Bishop, OU’s vice president of public affairs. She says that the school is also working to expand the program for non-Apple devices.

OU also plans for its new architecture library to have iPads and portable e-book readers – items that are immensely popular among college students – available for checkout by students.

This growth in usage has not gone unnoticed by university administrators in Oklahoma, but colleges appear to be cautious when it comes to rushing into what might end up being gap technologies.

“There certainly is plenty of conversation about the pros and cons of new tech devices, particularly the more mobile devices such as iPads and e-readers,” says Rick Shipley, the director of information services for the University of Tulsa’s student association.

“But the general consensus I have heard is that students are not ready to completely switch from textbooks to electronic devices.”

Though the benefits of a portable library of books are many, Shipley says that textbooks in an academic environment are not practical in electronic form.

One reason schools may be slow to adopt new technologies immediately is new platform stability.

“When a new product comes out, it will inevitably have plenty of bugs that need to be worked out,” says Shipley. “So it doesn’t make sense to purchase a new product immediately after it’s released.”

Another major issue is cost. While a $600-plus iPad purchase for a college student is certainly sizable, it is nothing compared to the price a university would pay to purchase, test and develop applications for such products in bulk.

Cost, says Shipley, is the primary roadblock keeping colleges from remaining in perfect symmetry with its student body. Optimizing a campus for wireless service, even a small one such as TU, he says would cost “millions” – and it is an expenditure that is exceedingly risky to take with the newest and most untested technologies.

“Simply put, there is no good time to buy new technology, because it will be obsolete in a matter of years,” Shipley says.

This summer’s revelations about the wave of standardized test cheating in several of the country’s major school districts were just another black eye for American public education. From substandard test scores to security concerns, public school systems have had a rough few years.

But while public education critics often tout their advantages, many private schools around the nation are also struggling in the wake of the ongoing economic mire.

Fortunately, private schools in Oklahoma appear to be staving off the problems others elsewhere face. In fact, Oklahoma private schools report that enrollment has stabilized after a decline tied to the recession. Some of Tulsa’s and Oklahoma City’s largest private schools saw enrollment decline in 2009, bounce back last year and look solid as the new school year arrives.

“There is no question that the economy is a factor,” says Geoffrey Butler, headmaster at Tulsa’s Holland Hall.

But Holland Hall, like fellow notable Tulsa institutions Bishop Kelley High School and Cascia Hall, report that enrollment for the new school year will be in line with last year and years past.

Cascia Hall Headmaster Roger Carter, in fact, says enrollment is “as big as we have ever been.”

Oklahoma City’s Heritage Hall is experiencing a similar phenomenon. Heritage Hall has been “going up every year,” according to spokesperson Debbie Bolding. “Every year for the last 10 years there has been a steady increase in enrollment.”

Just a few miles down the road, Bishop McGuinness is living in the same bubble.

“Our enrollment has been pretty constant,” says public relations director Sandy Cunningham.

Bishop McGuinness has even had to add portable classrooms each of the last two years to keep up with its growth.

Casady School Headmaster Christopher Bright says his school experienced a decline in 2009, but bounced back the next year.

Oklahoma private schools are bucking the national trend. As far back as 2009, CBS News was reporting on shrinking private school enrollment, noting that drops are common following even mild recessions. After the relatively brief 1990-1991 recession, private schools lost 33,000 students; they lost more than 200,000 students after the recession triggered by the Sept. 11 attacks, according to CBS.

About 5.6 percent of Oklahoma’s approximately 699,000 elementary and high school students attend private schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That puts total enrollment in Oklahoma’s 250 private schools at about 39,000. Nationally, that percentage has held consistently at 10 to 12 percent for the last four decades, whether boom time or bust, whether it’s the Baby Boomer surge of the early 1970s or Net Gen kids shuffling off to class today.

Religious instruction appears to be one reason for stable enrollment in the state’s private schools. The vast majority of private schools are affiliated with Christian denominations or churches.

“Parents want support in passing on the faith to their kids,” says Fr. Brian O’Brien, president of Bishop Kelley.

Family tradition is another factor at play. Cascia Hall’s Carter notes that many students are following in the footsteps of parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents.

When children are young, parents tell them that they can do anything they want to when they grow up, as long as they do the best job they can do. When those children land in college, parents change their tunes. Kids have learned to do the best they can do. Now it’s about having the best job they can have. Getting that job makes living in the jungle – that place graduates reach on the other side of the stage after picking up their diplomas – a lot easier.

Only 10 percent of students are employed immediately following graduation. Roughly 75 percent are employed within six months of leaving school. Those numbers could be better if students had the right degrees.

Experts from three of Oklahoma’s top universities know what those degrees are.

The common quality these degrees share is the placement of graduates in positions and fields that are in demand. Engineers design, make and manage complex things that keep the wheels of society rolling. There will never be a drop in demand for health care workers. And Americans rely on businesses more than any country on earth to provide the goods and services we need (and want). Even in today’s rough economy, business degrees reliably translate into jobs.

Engineering
Engineering is consistently at the top of experts’ lists of in-demand degrees. As a field, engineering pays well and it’s resilient, almost recession-proof. Many new engineers are seeing higher salaries now than ever before.

“There’s been a robust and fairly sustained market for engineers, particularly for petroleum and geological engineering, which, for Oklahoma, is great. And for electrical and computer engineering. Any engineer that has the capability to work with technology, hardware and software development, is in a good spot,” says Nancy Mergler, senior vice president and provost at the University of Oklahoma.

As an occupation, engineering also has an advantage of being a field in which its practitioners is flexibility. Good schools make sure that students learn at least some aspects of the basic engineering principles that can be applied across any engineering disciplines.

The only thing hotter than an engineering degree is an engineering degree with an MBA stapled to it. To understand the science behind something and grasp the workings of the business where it’s applied – that’s gold to most employers, sources say.

Health Care
While the health care field often requires specialization, the field is also incredibly broad, offering opportunities to everybody with the right degrees and training – whether they’re speech therapists or neurologists. In fact, experts generally feel that health care related degrees and subsequent job opportunities are the most recession proof of all options.

“There’s a continuing market for individuals who are interested in health care related fields. Many of those students do need advanced degrees. Not all, but some. The nursing market, for example, is very strong,” says Mergler.

The nursing field is so hot that Oklahoma’s practically gone to war with Kansas and Texas to bring in the best nurses. As a result, those nursing salaries aren’t too bad. Once all that school gets paid off, it’s all gravy, experts intimate.

Business
“Engineering and business are hot areas right now. Agriculture is doing well, too. But business and engineering are tops right now. The top business degree is accounting. There are a lot of companies that, after the whole Sarbanes-Oxley deal, need accountants and people who can work with auditors and watch the money. If students get degrees in one of those two fields, they probably won’t have any trouble finding employment,” says Pam Ehlers, Oklahoma State University’s director of career services.

Mergler notes that the demand for business students has softened a bit, but fully expects a turnaround.

“A couple of years ago, finance and accounting were really hot. There’s been a little bit of change that might have to do with the stock market. I fully expect them to recover. We can’t survive without people that are finance and marketing and management. We need those folks. That market will recover. This is just a temporary dip,” she says.

One thing business degrees share with engineering and health care degrees is that having one in hand means a graduate has trained specifically to work in that field. Unless a graduate plans on pursuing an academic career, the same can’t be said for liberal arts degrees, currently the least successful in the job market.

“Accounting is doing well. It’s one of the fields where you’re getting a degree to prepare to go to work in that field. Those are the ones that are doing well right now,” says helly HollySr, the University of Tulsa’s director of career services.

All is not lost for graduates with other degrees, though. Ehlers emphasizes that any student can improve his chance of employment by gathering work experience while in school.

“If you’re going to go major in history or philosophy and you’re not going to work and get some work experience while you’re going to school, it’s going to be extremely difficult for you to get any kind of professional job when you graduate,” she says.

Getting the job quickly is as important as becoming the job at all. Schools are getting more and more expensive. The average graduate drags $23,000 of loans into the jungle with him. Getting rid of them means finding that job. And that has everything to do with the degree a graduate holds. But a graduate has to want to use that degree, too.

“Fifty percent of graduates spend only one year in the job they take first. They leave because they don’t like it or want to try something else,” says Holly.

Still, it’s better to have a job to leave than to not have one at all.

For some, music is a hobby, a tool to create background noise, a reason to visit a bar on the weekend. For others, music is the driving force behind everything they do. It may be how they earn a living, or it may be a second job. Or they may be so passionate about music that they devote their lives to the appreciation of it.