Oklahoma

4,788

engineers a year
at China’s rate

Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.

← #35 Alaska#36 of 51#37 Connecticut →

Oklahoma at China’s rate would graduate 6,828 engineers a year. It graduates 2,040.

Oklahoma produces 2,040 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 20,567 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 19 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 6,828. Output is growing (+4.6% over three years). Gap Score: 30% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 3,960 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 65% of them.

Engineering + CS share of bachelor’s degrees

9.9%

Below the national 12.3%; 30% of the way to China’s 33.2%.

Missing engineers a year at China’s rate

4,788

3,102 at a conservative 25%, and 2,073 at 20%.

Three-year trend, share of degrees

9.99.910.0

Output up 4.6% in degrees, 2022-23 to 2024-25.

National rank by share

#36

of 51 by share; #25 per capita, 116 missing engineers per 100k residents (pop. 4.1M).

What they study

55% eng

45% computer science. 21% of the state’s eng+CS output is at the associate level, the two-year pathway.

Job openings a year, engineers + computing + technicians

3,960

65% covered by the state’s own degrees, all levels; #17 of 51 on coverage.

The gap against China’s benchmark

Oklahoma, today9.9%

United States, today12.3%

China benchmark33.2%

4,788 missing engineering and CS bachelor’s degrees a year at China’s 33.2% rate.

Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees

2022–232023–242024–25

Oklahoma is missing 4,788 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 6x the annual output of Oklahoma State University-Main Campus.

Where Oklahoma’s engineers are made.

19 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Oklahoma. The top 8 account for 91% of output.

Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year

Oklahoma State University-Main Campus alone is 37% of the state's output.Swipe the map →

Top producers

#	Institution	Eng+CS / yr	% of its degrees
1	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	745	14.9%
2	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	609	13.5%
3	University of Tulsa	167	26.7%
4	University of Central Oklahoma	138	6.4%
5	Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology	54	46.0%
6	Oklahoma Christian University	52	13.5%
7	East Central University	47	9.1%
8	Northeastern State University	42	3.5%

Top 8 shown = 91% of state output. 11 more institutions produce the remaining 9%, all shown on the map. Bachelor's degrees, matching the state totals above. IPEDS Completions C2023–C2025, first majors; 3-yr average.

Jobs vs. degrees

Oklahoma's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.

Openings against output

Job openings per year (growth + replacement)3,960

Eng + CS degrees produced per year (associate + bachelor’s)2,572

of which net new jobs per year (growth only)223

Where the openings are

Occupation	Openings / yr
Computer User Support Specialists	520
Software Developers	450
Computer Occupations, All Other	210
Computer Systems Analysts	210
Industrial Engineers	180
Civil Engineers	170

Coverage: degrees ÷ openings

65%

of Oklahoma's projected openings are covered by its own degrees. Rank #17 of 51; U.S.: 54%. Demand: 96 openings per 100k residents (U.S.: 143).

Oklahoma's colleges cover 65% of the engineering, computing and technician jobs its economy opens every year. The other 1,388 a year, 2x the annual output of Oklahoma State University-Main Campus, must be imported, retrained, or left unfilled.

Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Oklahoma labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).

Oklahoma has chased billions in data center and metals projects

Oklahoma has chased megaprojects with a $698M LEAD Fund, a $9B Google build-out and a $4B aluminum smelter, while an EV plant deal in Pryor collapsed. Demand for engineers keeps growing, and the state's supply of them does not.

Google, Pryor and Stillwater

$9B

Google announced $9 billion over two years in August 2025 to expand its Pryor campus (eight data centers, its second-largest site worldwide) and build a ~$3B, six-building campus in Stillwater, phase one targeted for 2027, plus new campuses in Muskogee County. Permanent jobs at such sites run in the low hundreds; the workforce money goes to electrical apprentices (160+ by 2030) and AI training at OU and OSU, not to engineering degrees.

NewsOn6; News On 6 data-center tracker

Emirates Global Aluminium / Century, Inola

$4B, 1,000 jobs

Announced May 2025: a $4 billion primary aluminum smelter at the Tulsa Port of Inola, the first built in the U.S. in nearly 50 years, promising 1,000 direct jobs and 1,800 indirect, backed by $275 million in state funds plus tax exemptions and power discounts. In June 2026 Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued to block it over emissions and the 60% Abu Dhabi ownership; the case was sent back to state court in September over Justice Department objections, and the plant still awaits its state air permit.

NewsOn6; KGOU

Canoo, Pryor and Oklahoma City

$113M promised, $1M paid

The EV startup won a $113 million ten-year incentive package from the state and Cherokee Nation for plants in Pryor and Oklahoma City, but drew only $1 million after clearing 100 jobs in January 2024. It furloughed 82 workers in December 2024, idled both factories and filed Chapter 7 in January 2025; the state must claw back the $1 million under an 80%-of-jobs clause.

The Frontier; KJRH

The drain.

Oklahoma keeps most of its graduates but loses its engineers faster than any other critical field, and its best-known talent program, Tulsa Remote, recruits workers from other states rather than training them.

Engineering BS grads working in OK, year 1

72.1%

Oklahoma State Regents 2024 Employment Outcomes report (Oct 2025), vs. ~92% for all resident grads

Engineering BS grads still in OK, year 5

56.0%

Same Regents report; non-resident grads of all fields fall to 37.7% at five years

Tulsa Remote movers still in Tulsa

~75%

Upjohn Institute study of arrivals since 2019, reported by NewsOn6, June 2025

Sources: Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, 2024 Employment Outcomes; NewsOn6 / Upjohn Institute

Who’s covering it.

Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.

OutletStoryWhat it covers

NewsOn6

Google data center in Oklahoma: What the company's $9 billion investment means for the state

Aug 2025. Breaks down the Pryor and Stillwater expansion and its workforce funding, which targets electricians and AI training rather than engineering degrees.

KGOU

Oklahoma AG takes legal action to block Inola aluminum project

Jun 2026. The state's $4B smelter, its largest industrial project that needs engineers, is now contested by its own attorney general.

The Frontier

Canoo could be required to repay Oklahoma incentive money

Dec 2024. Shows how a headline EV megaproject with a $100M-plus package produced ~100 jobs before collapsing.

The Frontier

From limiting tax breaks to moratoriums, Oklahoma legislators eye new rules for data centers

Feb 2026. Legislature debates HB 4424 tax-break limits and a three-year moratorium; none of the bills tie incentives to homegrown talent.

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

Oklahoma Public Higher Education Graduates Learn Here, Earn Here

Oct 2025. The state's own outcomes report celebrates 92% retention overall but concedes engineering trails at 72%.

OU News

Oklahoma Engineering Futures Fair Connects Students with Industry to Address Statewide Shortage

Mar 2025. OU's engineering college names a statewide engineer shortage and pairs 200 students with 26 Oklahoma employers to keep them in state.

The fix, in Oklahoma.

Tie LEAD dollars to engineers

The $698M LEAD Fund was swept back to the general fund when the Panasonic deal failed, and the $275M Inola package rewards capital investment with no workforce condition. Condition future megaproject and data-center tax breaks on funded Digital ROTC seats at OSU, OU and Tulsa, with recipients owing service years to the sponsor.

Service-for-tuition at CareerTech and community colleges

Associate-degree engineers stay in Oklahoma at 91% after one year, the state's best retention. Fund tuition at Tulsa Community College, OCCC and Rose State engineering-technology tracks in exchange for two years at Tinker, the OKC Air Logistics Complex or a Tulsa MRO employer.

Pay engineers to stay five years

Oklahoma loses a sixth of its engineering bachelor's grads between year one and year five. Pay off remaining tuition debt for engineers who complete a five-year Oklahoma service term, mirroring what Tulsa Remote does for outsiders.

What Digital ROTC would fund

Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Oklahoma, 21% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.

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