Interested in attending a STEM school in Ohio? Our ranking of top research universities for bachelor’s degrees displays schools that will best prepare you for STEM careers.
Ohio offers over 120 colleges and universities for students to earn their associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. The largest school in the state, Ohio State University, a public institution, serves almost 55,000 students. This university has five regional campuses, which have graduated alumni like writer Harlan Ellison and Wikipedia cofounder Larry Sanger. The majority of Ohio’s schools, however, are private.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Tuition at these schools varies greatly, with costs as low as $7,000 at God’s Bible School and College, and as high as $56,000 at Kenyon University. The state is also home to nearly 40 higher education institutes with religious affiliations, offering plenty of options for students aiming to blend their faith with higher education. Although tuition costs in Ohio are higher than the national average, Ohio provides several loan forgiveness programs to those pursuing careers as public defenders and prosecutors, dentists, nurses, primary care physicians, and mental health providers. Many of these programs require individuals to work in shortage areas around the state for a certain time period in order to qualify.
If you’re someone with a wide variety of interests, Ohio might just be the place for you. In The Buckeye State, individuals can visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, take a trip through Amish Country, attend a professional sporting event, and hike waterfalls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It seems this state has something for everyone, including those pursuing a higher education degree.
Learn more about the numerous excellent degree paths and career prospects available in Ohio.
Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
A research university is a great option for students interested in obtaining STEM degrees. Research universities invest heavily in research, which consequently provides meaningful and extensive opportunities for its students and faculty to participate in research. There are 13 research universities in Ohio, all of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best research universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Tuition + fees
$53K
Acceptance
30%
Graduation
85%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1425/32
Case Western Reserve University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
73%
Student body
33K
Median SAT/ACT
1235/26
University of Cincinnati’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
87%
Student body
56K
Median SAT/ACT
1355/30
Ohio State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
66%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/23
Ohio University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
62%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
990/21
Bowling Green State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
82%
Student body
20K
Median SAT/ACT
1290/27
Miami University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
48%
Student body
13K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/22
Cleveland State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
81%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/26
University of Dayton’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
43%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1104/21
Wright State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
84%
Graduation
65%
Student body
24K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
Kent State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
95%
Graduation
53%
Student body
17K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/23
University of Toledo’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
48%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1110/22
University of Akron’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
63%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1151/23
University of Findlay’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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