Rogers State University is going all in on hands-on science and tech. The Claremore campus has officially broken ground on the three-story, $35 million Robson Center for Science and Technology, a lab-heavy facility that university leaders say will overhaul how students learn robotics, chemical engineering, cybersecurity and biology while feeding the region’s technical workforce.
Design And Lab Focus
This is not your typical campus building stacked with offices. The Robson Center is deliberately tilted toward lab space, with room carved out for wet labs, maker bays and open robotics zones, plus a handful of computer suites. “There [are] no offices; it’s all laboratory space, and a couple of computer labs as well,” Dr. Mark Rasor, RSU’s vice president for administration and finance, told GovTech. The university expects to have the building in use in early 2028, once construction and lab build out are complete.
Size, Design And Contractor
Design documents put the new facility at roughly 44,000 square feet, large enough to replace the 70-year-old Loshbaugh Hall while adding modern flexibility that the older building never had. Plans call for adaptable maker spaces, open areas where students can work with robotics and drones, and even a teaching kitchen tied to a planned nutrition science track. The project was designed by Parkhill and lists Flintco as the general contractor, according to Tradeline.
Funding And Timeline
The $35 million budget came together through a hybrid of public money and private support. The State of Oklahoma committed $10 million and the Cherokee Nation chipped in $4 million, while private donors covered a large share of what was left. The Rogers State University Foundation’s STEM@RSU campaign closed 2025 with a headline $4 million gift from Frank Robson and a $3 million Legacy Grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, according to Journal Record. The university and its builder are targeting completion in late 2027 or early 2028, per Flintco.
Campus Upgrades Beyond STEM
The Robson Center is the flagship project, but it is not the only work under way on the Claremore campus. RSU is renovating student housing, resurfacing the north parking lot and upgrading HVAC systems and campus lighting to LED. A new wellness center with cardio and weightlifting equipment is also in the works, and the university is exploring a key card accessed, self serve convenience store for students, RSU President Don Raleigh told GovTech.
Why It Matters Locally
University leaders are framing the Robson Center as a regional play, not just a campus showpiece. The goal is to turn out technicians and scientists who can step straight into jobs with employers across the Tulsa metro and nearby industrial parks. Local reporting and RSU leadership say the center will help expand high demand programs and keep more students in the area by tightening connections between the university and local businesses, according to Journal Record.
Enrollment And Next Steps
RSU is already recruiting students into newly approved and expanded programs while construction is under way. Local coverage notes that the university is accepting students for new teacher preparation pathways in secondary education and plans to phase those offerings in as the new labs and instructional spaces come online, according to KRMG. In other words, by the time the Robson Center’s doors open, RSU aims to have a fresh wave of students ready to fill those labs.
