Ohio University-Main Campus (OU) Academics and Admissions

Academics

Founded in 1804, Ohio University is a large public university located on a 1,800-acre campus in urban Athens, Ohio. Enrollment at the 1,762-acre main campus includes 18,589 undergraduates, 3,595 graduate students, and 463 medical students. Another 9,700 students attend classes at Ohio’s five regional campuses in other parts of the state. U.S. News and World Report ranked Ohio as 124 among National Universities.

The student-faculty ratio at Ohio University is 19 to 1, and about 44.6 percent of its classes have fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Ohio University include: journalism; parks, recreation, and leisure studies; psychology; radio and television; and speech and rhetorical studies. The average freshman retention rate is 80 percent. In 2009-10, Ohio had seven Fulbright Scholars.

There are 11 colleges within this sprawling campus: Arts and Sciences, Business, Fine Arts, Health Sciences and Professions, the Honors Tutorial College, Patton College of Education and Human Services, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Scripps College of Communication, University College the Graduate College, and the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ohio University offers its students more than 250 undergraduate majors to choose from, and master’s and doctoral degree programs in a range of study areas.

Scholars Programs

There are a number of scholars programs offered to academically gifted students, including the Honors Tutorial College, the most selective college at Ohio. The Honors Tutorial Colleges is based on the Oxbridge systems of tutorial education developed in England, and gives students the opportunity to receive a substantial part of their education through tutorials, small seminars and one-on-one classes. The Copeland Scholars program gives business students a freshman year stipend, the opportunity to meet with a senior business faculty member each week, and a variety of business leadership activities. The Ohio Business Fellows is a program designed for Copeland Scholars beyond freshman year, and helps them to continue to develop their personal and professional academic goals. Stocker Scholars is a program for students in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, and freshmen are invited based on their GPA and ACT or SAT scores. Students in the program in a team design competition every winter. The selective Cutler Scholars Program is offered to students who are nominated by their high school or an Ohio University alumni chapter. The endowed program provides tuition, fees, and room and board and funds for a summer internship or related experience. The King/Chavez/Parks Award Program is offered to talented students from disproportionately represented populations, who are offered creative programs and faculty mentored research, scholarship, and character education. The Templeton Scholars Program provides educational opportunities meant to enrich the the academic lives of talented students from disproportionately represented populations. Templeton Scholars are provided with opportunities in the areas of politics, humanities, economics, science, arts and the environment. Research, service and student-led discussions are also part of the experience.

Study Abroad

Ohio University offers its students dozens of study abroad programs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and the Middle East. You can enroll in the AIDS in Africa program in South Africa, teach in the country of Ghana, study media, society and governance in Zambia, learn Chinese language and culture in Beijing, study Japanes at Chubu University in Nagoya, Japan, exchange places with a Japanese student from Musashi University in Tokyo, enroll in the AustraLearn program in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, study the German language in Salzburg, Austria, study the art and architecture of Paris, learn French in Avignon, enroll in the Exploring Art in London program, attend the Photographic Field School in Edinburgh, Scotland, study scriptwriting and film in Ireland, learn Italian in Florence, or Russian in Moscow.

The International Student Union is OU’s umbrella organization for 23 international student groups at the university. The organization holds frequent events for international students, and publishes a weekly newsletter about campus events geared toward the international community.

Ohio University is wireless, and provides its students with plenty of computer labs, including 19 open access labs on campus. There also are plenty of 24-hour computer labs, and many students make frequent use of the labs at the campus’ Alden Library.

Most Popular Fields of Study

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Information Summary

Ranks 17th in Ohio and 422nd overall. See the entire top 2,000 colleges and universities list
Overall Score (about)	88.0
Total Cost On-Campus Attendance	$28,986
Admission Success rate	N/A
ACT / SAT 75%ile scores	26 / 1270
Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty	20 : 1
Retention (full-time / part-time)	81% / 54%
Enrollment Total (all students)	28,480

Admissions

If you want to know what your chances are for being admitted to Ohio University, it helps to know that the average incoming freshman ACT scores in 2010 were 24, with a range of 21 to 26, and the university’s incoming freshmen had earned a grade point average in high school of about 3.4. The average combined SAT scores ranged from 970 to 1200. The good news is that Ohio admits about 82 percent of all its applicants, and about 80 percent of all freshmen return the following year.

Applications are considered based on a variety of criteria, including ACT or SAT scores, grade point average, class rank, a student’s performance, and the strength of a student’s high school curriculum. The admissions office at Ohio pays particular attention to performance in the junior year of high school, and the suggested college prep coursework includes four units of English, three units each of math, science and social studies, two units of a foreign language, and one unit in the visual or performing arts. Students applying to the Ohio University School of Dance or School of Music must also audition.

Some of the university’s individual colleges might have slightly higher expectations of its incoming students, including the College of Business, where freshmen have average scores of 24 on the ACT and 1100 on the SAT, and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, whose incoming freshmen average 25 on the ACTs and 1140 on the SATs. Applicants to the Russ College of Engineering and Technology must have taken four years of college-preparatory math, one year of chemistry and one of physics in high school.

If you’re aiming for admission to the Honors Tutorial College, note that the average student admitted to that college is in the top 10 percent of his high school graduating class, with average scores of 30 on the ACTs and 1300 on the SATs. An essay is also required for admission to the honors college.

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Financial Aid

Students who attend Ohio University can apply for any federal need-based financial aid program, and in-state students can apply for all Ohio aid programs. In addition, the university offers a variety of grants, loans and scholarships to undergraduates. More than two-thirds of all Ohio University students receive some financial aid from a variety of sources. All students who intend to apply for financial aid must file the Free Application for Student Assistance, or FAFSA, by February of senior year of high school, and award letters are mailed by OU in April.

Ohio University automatically considers all incoming freshmen for its Gateway Award Program, with students eligible based on a sliding scale of academic merit and financial need based on the FAFSA form. There are five Gateway scholarships — the Gateway Excellence Scholarship, which awards four-year renewable scholarships valued at the university’s full in-state tuition rate; the Gateway Scholarship, which can vary in amount from full tuition to $500; the Gateway Grant, which varies in amount, and the Gateway Trustee Award for out-of-state resident students, who receive a $6,000 discount; and the Ohio University Bobcat Grant, which is awarded to students with highest financial need, without academic merit consideration.

Students can also apply for separate scholarships by the Office for Multicultural Student Access and Retention to promote diversity at OU.

Student Financial Aid Details

Ranks 1862nd for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best scholarships and financial aid in Ohio.

Students

Almost all of Ohio University’s large student body lives either on campus or close to the campus. All freshmen and sophomores are required to live in one of OU’s 42 residence halls, and about 90 percent of the university’s students remain on campus on the weekends.

OU’s residence halls include buildings for freshmen only and halls for upperclass students, and most of the residence halls are coeducational. Located on three residential “greens” on the campus, the residence halls offer a variety of living arrangements available, including themed academic halls, substance-free halls,

Fourteen residence halls built in the 1940s and 50s are located on the East Green, and all are traditional-style halls with shared community bathrooms. Some have their own laundry facilities, and there is a large laundry center in the basement of Gamertsfelder Hall for students living in other halls. Bryan Hall is reserved for upperclass students with a 3.0 grade point average or higher. Because they’re located on the main College Green, these halls are popular because of their proximity to most academic and administrative buildings, including the College of Education, the Schools of Music and Art, and the Department of Mathematics. Two dining halls serve students living on the East Green.

The West Green is home to eight residence halls, all traditional-style halls with shared community bathrooms. The West Green halls are served by a large laundry center in the basement of Treudley Hall, and a dining hall and convenience store for the residences is located in Boyd Hall. The area is closest to OU’s athletic facilities and the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Health and Human Services, Engineering and Technology and the Life Sciences building.

The South Green area is home to 19 residence halls, all built in the 1960s and 70s. Four buildings (Crawford, Brown, Mackinnon and Pickering) are traditional-style residence halls with shared community bathrooms. The rest of the South Green halls are designed as suites that house 12 to 18 students who share a central lounge areas, with six students sharing a bathroom. Rooms are either singles or doubles. The newest residence, Adams Hall, is for upper-class students and features suites with two double rooms sharing a bath. Each resident hall on the South Green has its own laundry, and Nelson Commons is home to the South Green’s dining hall and market. Honors Tutorial College students live in part of Hoover Hall, and graduate students and upper class students over the age of 21 live in Brough Hall. Both Brough and Hoover have their own kitchen facilities.

OU Dining

Students with meal plans can access any of the OU’s four dining halls and freshmen and sophomores are offered a variety of five different meal plans to suit their dining needs. After sophomore year, students are offered more flexible meal plan options. Students say the most popular dining halls are Shively, because of its wide selection of hand-scooped ice cream, and Boyd, which offers paninis, wraps and even sushi.

Each dining hall offers food stations that include salad bars, wok stations, waffle stations, pasta bars and potato bars. There are always three main courses served each day, a fast-food line, and desserts. Other venues include a number of grab-and-go places, the West 82 food court at the Baker student center, Cafe Bibliotech in the Alden Library, and the Atrium Cafe at Grover Center. Students can also get and refill their Bobcat Cash card, which is a prepaid debit card that can be used throughout the campus, including at vending machines and laundry facilities.

There are more than 360 student organizations at Ohio University, along with 30 fraternities and sororities. The organizations and clubs include a student-run “college rock” radio station, an African Student Union, an LGBT organization called Ally, a Chinese bible study group, College Democrats and College Republications, a dance team, a fencing club, a mountain biking club, a mixed martial arts club, a paintball club, a Muslim Students Association, the New Chords on the Block singing ensemble, and Your Lost Flamingo, a student theater company.

The center of campus life is the John Calhoun Baker University Center, which was constructed in 2007 and offers a first-floor pool room with six tables, a foosball table, and a student lounge. On the second floor at Baker, a 250-seat theater is used for concerts, plays and movies, and a stage in the Front Room Coffeehouse on the fourth floor is often used for small stage acts, films, and concerts. The Baker Center also has a number of student study lounges and computer labs, and wireless Internet access is available throughout the building. There are three dining facilities at Baker, including the West 82 food court, the Front Room Coffeehouse, and Latitude 39, a traditional restaurant.

Students spend lots of time on Court Street, the main street in Athens, where you can find the popular Perks Coffeehouse, the Court Street Diner, and Casa Cantina, a music spot. There are more than 20 bars in Uptown Athens, the section of the city closest to the OU campus, including the Donkey Cafe, which holds open-mic nights for students who want to perform or be entertained. Also popular is bowling at the nearby Campus Rollerbowl Lanes.

Student Enrollment Demographics

Student Graduation Demographics

Athletics

Ohio University has 16 intercollegiate sports teams, six teams for men and 10 women’s teams. They include men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, and wrestling; and women’s basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and volleyball. The Bobcats play in the NCAA Division One and are members of the Mid Atlantic Conference.

Intramural sports are popular at OU, and include badminton, baseball, basketball, bowling, broomball, cornhole, disc golf, dodgeball, flag football, floor hockey, golf, racquetball, indoor and outdoor soccer, softball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball teams. Also popular are OU’s club sports, which include baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, boxing, men’s and women’s crew, cycling, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, ice hockey and Kendo teams.

One of the biggest draws to OU games is the Marching 110, the popular university marching band, which performs not only at athletic events, but at parades and events around the U.S. Although the name refers to the 110 members of the band in 1967, the Marching 110 has many more members today. The Marching 110 was the first marching band to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall, in 1976, and in 1993, performed at the Presidential Inaugural Parade and Ball in Washington, D.C.

There are 13 athletic facilities at OU, most notably the circular 13,080-seat Convocation Center, home site for the basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams. The $8.2 million facility can hold more than 15,000, and is often used for concerts commencement ceremonies and other events. OU is also proud of its Peden Stadium, home to OU football games and an athletic training facility for players. The stadium also houses the Phillips Academic Services Center, where athletes can study in a large classroom, two computer labs, tutoring rooms and receive academic support from the staff of Athletic Academic Services.

The Charles J. Ping Center is one of the largest recreational facilities in the country, providing OU students with plenty of fitness options, including equipment rooms, five basketball/volleyball courts, eight racquetball courts, two gymnasiums, a four-lane indoor running track, and free fitness classes in an enclosed glass fitness area.

Bibliography

Ohio University. Ohio University. Web. 15 May 2011.

Ohio University Housing. Ohio University. Web. 15 May 2011.

OhioBobcats.com – The Official Site of Ohio Athletics. Ohio University. Web. 15 May 2011.

“Ohio University | Best College | US News.” US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. US News & World Report. Web. 15 May 2011.

Ohio University-Main Campus