Rogers State University launches Oklahoma’s first regional AI degree program

Rogers State University launched new bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and artificial intelligence this fall, marking significant expansions to the Oklahoma school’s academic offerings. The AI program makes RSU the third university in Oklahoma and the first regional institution in the state to offer artificial intelligence studies, while the elementary education degree addresses longstanding barriers that prevented scholarship students from pursuing teaching careers.

Why this matters: The new programs position RSU to serve previously underserved student populations while addressing critical workforce needs in education and technology sectors across Oklahoma.

The elementary education breakthrough: RSU’s new bachelor’s program eliminates barriers that previously forced education students into a complex 2+2 partnership model with Cameron University.

• Students previously had to complete an associate’s degree first, which disqualified them from scholarships requiring bachelor’s program enrollment, including athletic scholarships and honors programs.
• “None of our athletes could have been an education major because we only had an associate’s,” said Susan Willis, RSU’s vice president for academic affairs.
• The program follows the same accreditation requirements as larger universities like the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University but at a lower cost, with plans to add secondary education next year.

Breaking new ground in AI education: The artificial intelligence degree, offered as a specialization within the information technology program, targets students already fluent in programming.

• Students will learn how large language models like ChatGPT function and build their own AI systems through long-term projects.
• “Every company right now is looking into building some sort of chat bots. They are trying to bring the AI element into a company, even small things, so this degree can help them gain those basic skills,” said professor Abhilash Minukuri, who developed most of the curriculum.

In plain English: Large language models are AI systems that understand and generate human-like text by learning patterns from massive amounts of written content—think of them as extremely sophisticated autocomplete systems that can hold conversations and answer complex questions.

Real-world AI expertise: The program is led by professors with direct industry experience, including Sai Samineni, who previously built LLM chatbots for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

• Samineni emphasizes AI ethics based on her experience with sensitive medical data: “You could lose your job. You could do one mistake, one typing mistake, and you can lose your job. You can’t just send people’s X-rays through GPT and stuff like that.”
• The curriculum includes both technical courses for programming-fluent students and introductory ethics courses for those seeking basic AI literacy.

What they’re saying: Faculty members stress the importance of staying current with rapidly evolving AI technology.

• “Every year, I try to bring something new which is in the industry, so they learn what’s out there, so they’ll have that opportunities when they graduate,” Minukuri explained. “That’s the same thing we’re gonna do for AI. We’ll try to update it as much as possible, so that we’ll offer the cutting-edge technology every year.”

Additional expansions: RSU also added master’s degree options to its cybersecurity and nursing programs, along with expanded emergency teacher certification pathways, reflecting broader efforts to meet regional workforce demands.