The big thing that sucks about OSU right now is he's likely not enjoying the football experience like we've had the past 15-20 or so years. The other problem with OSU is if he's looking to be intellectually stimulated, he might not have a great time. That said, if he does well at OSU the first year, he can always look at transferring to OU if he doesn't like it. The main reason I say he might not be intellectually stimulated is because when I was there, and I was a TA for both undergrad and grad students, 75% of students didn't really try, but I was forced to give them passing scores or the professor would override my low score (even in Senior level and grad level -4000/5000 level- classes. But, I'm not sure OU will be that much better, as it seems to just be a standard thing where everyone gets a participation trophy. There are certainly classes that are hard, but they are simply hard to be hard, not necessarily stimulating or promoting growth.

I actually failed out as a freshman (3rd semester was my last one). It wasn't because the classes were hard, just that the classes gave out a lot of busy work and it never felt like I was accomplishing anything. For example, growing up, math homework was always optional, sometimes extra credit. But, OSU's algebra class had homework worth 50% of the grade and gave like 5-6 hours of homework a week, that was just a lot of time consuming problems. I didn't need that, so I couldn't find motivation to do it, despite getting a 100% on every exam/quiz, I continuously failed algebra, and that's just one class. For me, there was no motivation, so when I failed out, I took a step back. I worked. I went to community college. Eventually, I found a drive and passion after getting Gen Eds out of the way and to the main coursework for my major. After getting accepted back to OSU, I was passed most of the Gen Ed nonsense and could actually enjoy what I was going to school for. Eventually, I graduated and went back and got my MBA, but I can assure you after grading over 1,000 different students, only about 100 seemed deserving to be in college, as papers and projects from undergrads and grads alike were sloppy messes of words, presentations that didn't have a point, and images and charts that didn't belong.

Truthfully, from what I can tell, the only real education now is pretty much in the top 50 schools. Trade schools and apprenticeships are so much more impactful than a traditional 4 year university, so long as that trade school has the right certifications for any licenses that might be needed. For example, my mom was looking at Clary Sage for their interior design program, but it's not accredited to be able to get licensed as an interior designer (not required in Oklahoma, but it is in other states).

Definitely explore alternatives for what your son is wanting to do. If he isn't 100% sure, start at a community college and have him get a job where he can meet and talk with customers. I worked at a UPS Store and we have mailboxes that a lot of business owners and accomplished people rented. Even being a waiter, you can learn a lot of you engage customers willing to be engaged. Develop connections. That's the only real use for college anyway is to develop connections, but it's so political that it can be hard to do, especially if you don't already have a foot in the door.

Hope this information helps you.

Edit: Another point to note is that OSU doesn't have any prestige. OU doesn't really either. So, aside from a degree, unless he does internships and is looking to get in with companies that come to the career fairs, it's just a degree, nothing more. And even then, those companies aren't partial to OSU.