A new website named “Free at OU” offers visitors links and information about a variety of free services students can utilize during their time at Oakland University.

The website, which launched in May, includes a brief explanation of its purpose, a list of every free service OU offers and a two-minute video depicting a student utilizing some of the services listed.

Director of Media Relations Ted Montgomery, along with his colleagues, came up with this idea at the end of last year.

“College education is already such a huge investment,” he said. “We thought we could create a target search for all the things at OU that are free.”

Montgomery said the goal of the site is to help students, faculty and staff take advantage of everything OU offers at no extra cost. Information about the site and OU’s free services are being used in orientation material as well.

Lindsay Beck, an incoming OU freshman, went through new student orientation in June and was introduced to many of the fee-free things to do on campus.

“When they took us on a tour, they pointed out tons of things that were free, such as tutoring, academic advising, career services, the rec center, newspapers and tech rentals,” she said.

Beck believes the website was a great idea and explained it was easy for her to follow.

“I like how the site has links for the different categories where free things will be provided, such as academic services and transportation,” she said.

Even though the site lists what it calls “free services,” Montgomery said students have already paid for these things through tuition. He also said offering things such as parking, tutoring and dormitory laundry at no extra cost is an advantage not found at other public universities.

“Students who are aware of these things will take full advantage,” he said.

Contact Staff Reporter Jennifer Holychuk via email [email protected] at or follow her on Twitter @jholychuk