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ONU At-A-Glance

ONU has a rich history of academic excellence, and we're always evolving to meet society's ever-changing needs. We've most recently been recognized for teaching quality, high graduation rates, commitment to volunteer service and, most impressively, providing high return on investment for our graduates.

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About our students

You don't have to be a statistics major to see how these numbers tell the story of the ONU educational experience.

  • 91% Of first-year students rated their educational experience "excellent" or "good"
  • 19 Average class size
  • 93% Of ONU students receive financial support
  • 6 The number of continents you can study abroad on

Recognition of Excellence

When you put as much time, effort and care into students as we do, people take notice. Click on the publications below to reveal what they think about Ohio Northern University.

  • Ranked No. 4 among Midwest regional colleges by U.S. News & World Report in Best Colleges 2022-23, ranked 2nd in “Best Value Schools” in regional colleges.

    The College of Engineering in particular has cause to celebrate. It ranked 21st on the national undergraduate-only engineering rankings, eight points higher than last year’s list. Its peer score also increased from 3.2 to 3.5.

  • One of nation’s top schools in The Princeton Review’s annual college guide, The Best 387 Colleges: 2022 Edition.

  • In its 2021 rankings, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education lists ONU among the top 12 small colleges in the Midwest, and no. 165 out of nearly 800 U.S. colleges and universities.

  • Reports that ONU ranks second out of all 76 colleges in Ohio, 10th nationally out of 578 national selective private colleges and 84th out of all 2,137 colleges in the U.S. for "median student income at age 34."

  • Ranked by Washington Monthly as No. 2 in the “Bachelor's Colleges” category of its 2022 college rankings. Also ranked no. 8 in the "2022 Best Bang for the Buck Rankings: Midwest."

  • Ranks ONU No. 6 in the state of Ohio for salary potential and lists ONU among the top five private universities in the state for return on investment.

  • ONU ranked 314 on Forbes’ "America’s Top Colleges 2022” list.

    Forbes only ranks a slice of American’s colleges and universities, just 500 four-year schools this time around drawn from the nearly 2,700 such degree-granting institutions in the U.S. Forbes notes that they are thereby showcasing “the finest in American education.” Ohio Northern was one of only 15 Ohio higher education institutions listed this year.

  • Its rankings for ONU include:

    • Best Colleges in Ohio: No. 11 of 79
    • Best Christian Colleges in America: No. 27 of 345
    • Best Colleges with No Application Fee in America: No. 51 of 651
  • ONU is ranked No. 1 in Ohio on this site’s "Best College in Each State for Getting a Job in 2021." It’s listed at No. 3 nationally from a short list of 10 institutions.

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2022-23 Enrollment by College

Arts & Sciences 1,207
Business Administration 336
Engineering 670
Pharmacy 624
Law 178
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Graduate Outcomes

At ONU, we are proud of our outstanding placement rates, year after year. Our graduates land incredible jobs and get accepted into top-notch graduate schools right out of the gate.

Learn about the successes of our most recent graduates

Top majors for freshmen

  • Pharmacy
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Biology
  • Civil Engineering
  • Nursing
  • Forensic Biology
  • General Business
  • Exercise Physiology
  • Computer Engineering
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Campus life by the numbers

  • 200+ Student clubs and organizations
  • 19 Different residence halls
  • 25 NCAA Division III varsity sports
  • 1,500 Students involved in service
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