Oakland University is a major public university located in Rochester, Michigan a northern suburb of Detroit. It was founded in 1957 as a part of Michigan State University, but has been wholly independent since 1970. OU sits on a beautiful 1,500 acre campus, and includes the world famous Meadowbrook Hall that was donated with the land by the Dodge family, and the Meadowbrook Music Festival which is a major outdoor concert venue and pavilion. Additionally, there are miles of hiking and bike paths and two nationally ranked golf courses on the campus grounds to provide something for everyone.

Oakland University currently has around 18,000 students enrolled in one of its 120 bachelor degree programs, or one of its 100 graduate degree and certificate programs, including its 18 doctoral degree programs. It has been classified as a Doctoral/Research University by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Recently, plans have been laid to open the fourth Medical School in Michigan in an impressive partnership with the world-renowned William Beaumont Hospital. The Med School is expected to be open and functioning in 2010. Oakland University is also home to many major research centers including the Center for Biomedical Research, the Center for Robotics and Advanced Automation, the Eye Research Institute and the OU Center for Autism Research, Education and Support.

In athletics, Oakland University teams are known as the Golden Grizzlies, and the school has 16 NCAA Division I teams. The men’s basketball team recently made a trip to the vaunted NCAA Division I Men’s basketball championship tournament, where they won their opening game before losing to the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. The school colors for Oakland University are black and gold, and their mascot’s name is Grizz. The school is relatively new to division I, having competed in Division II GLIAC up until 1998. During their years in Division II they went by the name Pioneers, and won several National Championships in swimming.

Some notable Oakland University alumni include David Hasselhoff, Robert Englund, the actor made famous for his portrayal of Freddie Kruger, and many Michigan senators, representatives and mayors. The lack of famous names on the list of notable alumni is due to the short history of the University, but many well respected researchers in their fields have degrees from OU and in the coming years their research will likely make some of them household names, thus boosting the prestige of the university.

Overall, Oakland University is a wonderful choice for an education due to its high quality education and comparatively low cost, its beautiful campus located in one of the safest cities in the United States, and its diverse student body. You can take advantage of an affordable degree from a University that will continue to gain prestige as time goes on, thus increasing the value of your degree over the years.