Oklahoma Private School Association (OPSA) is an organization of proprietary postsecondary schools and colleges dedicated to a higher quality of education for Oklahoma's technical and vocational workforce. Training at OPSA schools include computer technology, computer programming, medical assistant, LPN, surgical technician, dental hygiene, medical billing and coding, computerized accounting, transcription, court reporting, electircal, heating and air conditioning, just to name a few.
In 2005 there were 42 accredited proprietary postsecondary schools and colleges in Oklahoma that employed 1,179 staff and faculty and produced 5,646 graduates. A recent study by Imagine America estimates career schools in Oklahoma contribute $108 million yearly to the Oklahoma economy.
Almost all of OPSA member schools are in either Tulsa or Oklahoma City, Oklahoma's two largest cities. In Oklahoma City, member schools include Platt College, Oklahoma Technical Institute, Vatterott College, Heritage College, ITT, Oklahoma Health Academy, ATI, and University of Phoenix. In Tulsa, member schools include Community Care College, Platt College, Oklahoma Health Academy, American Institute of Medical Technology, and University of Phoenix.
Dr. Paul Shuler, has been the President of OPSA since 2005. Jerry McGinnis, Oklahoma College of Construction, is the immediate Past President.
Famous quotes containing the words oklahoma, private, school and/or association:
“I know only one person who ever crossed the ocean without feeling it, either spiritually or physically.... he went from Oklahoma to France and back again ... without ever getting off dry land. He remembers several places I remember too, and several French words, but he says firmly, “We must of went different ways. I don’t rightly recollect no water, ever.””
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)
“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,—that is genius.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Nevertheless, no school can work well for children if parents and teachers do not act in partnership on behalf of the children’s best interests. Parents have every right to understand what is happening to their children at school, and teachers have the responsibility to share that information without prejudicial judgment.... Such communication, which can only be in a child’s interest, is not possible without mutual trust between parent and teacher.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)
“The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.”
—French National Assembly. Declaration of the Rights of Man (drafted and discussed August 1789, published September 1791)