Five Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) students and four local high school seniors – known as TURC Junior scholars– recently presented research conducted over the summer in a special presentation titled “Housing Challenges and Opportunities in the Tulsa Metropolitan Area.” The project was done in collaboration with The University of Tulsa’s Center for Real Estate Studies and was advised by Meagan McCollum and Cayman Seagraves, finance faculty members in Collins College of Business.
The United States is grappling with an affordable housing crisis that spans many cities and metropolitan areas. This crisis is characterized by a significant disparity between the rising costs of housing and the stagnation of household incomes, resulting in millions of Americans struggling to secure affordable housing. The housing issue not only affects individual families but also has broader implications for economic growth, social stability, and overall quality of life.
This collaborative paper focused on the housing landscape of Tulsa, examining different elements that contribute to its current state while also exploring potential solutions to existing affordable housing problems within the city. The students spent the summer gathering data, reviewing resources, and engaging with industry professionals and individuals working in Tulsa’s metropolitan government sectors related to real estate, housing development, and affordable housing initiatives.
“Students learned how zoning, demographics, development incentives, and more can shape local housing availability and affordability. Each student researched a particular component of the local housing market, collected and analyzed data, and created a report that synthesized their findings and made recommendations to local policymakers,” McCollum said.
Katrina Henderson, a finance sophomore and director of the TU Business Society, was one of the scholars presenting. Her section examined building permit data to investigate recent housing development patterns in Tulsa County, using information compiled between 2018 and 2024, in the hopes of determining where and how to most effectively meet housing needs.
“It was a terrific experience to work with and learn from Dr. McCollum as a participant in this summer’s TURC,” Henderson said. “I not only learned a great deal about real estate – in particular about the impact of land use regulations on housing supply – but also about my community, as my research focused on Tulsa County. I am grateful to TU for providing the opportunity and for making it economically feasible, and I highly recommend it to my colleagues!”
Henderson was joined in the project by finance sophomores Michael Brobst and Shawnda Henderson, finance senior John Dalby, and economics junior Selina Jiang, as well as TURC Junior scholars Rojina Adhikari, Seeme Tiwana, Truett Meier, and Lauren Muret.