Why OWU?

1. OWU Connection Opportunities

OWU's unique approach to academics provides incredible opportunities for travel, research, internships, and more.

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2. Profs Who Care

Students overwhelmingly rate their close relationship with faculty as the best part of their OWU experience.

i³ 3-Minute Lectures

3. It Feels Like Home

Students describe OWU as friendly, inclusive, supportive, diverse, active, helpful - and home.

Student Life

4. Graduates Get Jobs

95% of OWU's 2019 graduates were employed or in graduate school shortly after graduation.

Graduate Outcomes

5. Location, Location, Location

A beautiful, green campus. A friendly hometown. The USA's 14th largest city just minutes away.

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6. Battling Bishops

24 teams! Since 2000, we've won 73 conference championships, and 155 student-athletes have received All-America honors.

OWU Bishop Athletics

7. Celebrate the Arts

Majors and nonmajors alike create art, perform music, write poetry, act, dance, and more.

The Arts at OWU

8. We Mean Business

From Business Administration to Exercise Science, OWU combines career-oriented degrees with the breadth of the liberal arts.

Majors & Minors

When you explore Ohio Wesleyan, you'll see obvious reasons why OWU stands out as a university that can help you move forward to a better future:

Small classes with back-and-forth conversation — the student-faculty ratio is 10:1.
Opportunities beyond those at other small colleges: more than 60 majors, 24 varsity sports, global travel, internships, mentored research, even a marching band. Explore The OWU Connection!
A friendly, thriving hometown of Delaware, just 25 miles from Columbus, America's 14th-largest city.
Outstanding academic programs in the sciences, arts, humanities, and business, where in recent years, 95%-96% of new graduates were shortly in jobs or grad school.
Generous scholarship opportunities. Fully 99.3% of OWU students receive financial aid! And our Branch Rickey Scholarship upholds our belief that if you have the ability to succeed in college, you should have the opportunity.

Look deeper. You'll see a community where the heart of learning is connection. That's our belief, our commitment, our campus culture.

It's the Oh-Wooo spirit.

This is a supportive campus where students work and learn in partnership with their professors, coaches, advisors, and fellow students. This is a campus of cooperation, not competition. Colleges That Change Lives says, "OWU's culture is defined by warmth and helpfulness."

Schedule your visit, and see why an OWU education is called one of the best values in America.

National Reputation

When you choose a college, you want advice from the experts — people who've been there and done that. Look below and see what outside experts say about Ohio Wesleyan and why OWU could be the right fit for you.

Best for Your Money

The 2021 U.S. News & World Report College Rankings place OWU No. 1 in Ohio for "Best Value" and "Best Social Mobility" among all national liberal arts colleges.

The Princeton Review's "Colleges That Pay You Back" says OWU is a "Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck." OWU is featured in Money Magazine "Best Colleges for Your Money" and Kiplinger's "Best College Values." A New York Times report shows low-income students who come to OWU are more likely to move into the top 40% in income than students at many similar schools.

U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Fiske Guide, and others rank OWU among the top liberal arts universities in America.

Ratings & Rankings

U.S. News: Best Value

U.S. News & World Report ranks OWU as one of the Top 100 "Best National Liberal Arts Colleges." They rank OWU No. 1 in Ohio for "Best Value" and "Best Social Mobility," and an "A+ Option for B Students."

Money: A Great Investment

Money magazine’s statistical method gives weight to "new data . . . that shows how many low-income students schools propelled into the upper middle class over the past 20 years – pointing to colleges that help students achieve the American dream."

Upward Mobility

A 2017 New York Times report shows 66.9% of lower-income OWU students moved to the top 40% in income 10 years after graduation - a higher mark than schools such as Denison, Kenyon, Miami, Oberlin, and Wooster.

Princeton Review: Profs Interesting & Accessible

"Students are happy, lab facilities are great, internships are widely available, (there’s) great financial aid, everyone loves the Battling Bishops, (and) frats and sororities are popular."

Fiske: One of Best & Most Interesting

Ohio Wesleyan is one of “the ‘best and most interesting’ schools in the United States, as well as in Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland,” providing its students with “a solid liberal arts experience focused not on bells and whistles, but on practical career-related experience.”

A College That Changes Lives

Ohio Wesleyan is one of only 45 colleges and universities included in the guidebook Colleges That Change Lives, created by a former New York Times education editor.

In fact, OWU has appeared in every edition of Colleges That Change Lives since it was first published in 1996.

Colleges That Change Lives

Entrepreneurial Experts

Forbes Magazine ranks OWU at No. 17 in the nation among ‘America’s Most Entrepreneurial Colleges 2015,’ making OWU first among Ohio-based schools. OWU also ranks No. 1 among schools in the Great Lakes Colleges Association, a consortium of 13 private liberal arts colleges located in Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Entrepreneurship at OWU Entrepreneurship in Columbus

Forbes

Forbes ranked the colleges and universities “based on the entrepreneurial ratios – the total number of alumni and students who have identified themselves as founders and business owners on LinkedIn, divided by the school’s student body."

Meet student entrepreneurs Connor King and Jackson Markley

They hope to launch a $5-million hedge fund in the next year. The goal is part of their plan to establish their company, Yorkshyre Capital Management, as a “dominant player” in the cryptocurrency market.

Meet student entrepreneur Jack Foley

As a first-year student, Jack launched a company that transforms recycled plastic into cellphone cases. A portion of his profits aid Haitian children who are forced to help collect the plastic to ensure their family’s economic security.

The Location Advantage

Columbus is ranked third in the nation for "Growth Entrepreneurship Activity" and is the fourth best "City to Start a Business" according to the Kaufmann Foundation and Inc. magazine.

OWU Degrees at Work Today

Alumni know best the value of an OWU education in the marketplace.

Rebekah Smith '12

Migration Policy Consultant, The World Bank

"For a small school in the middle of Ohio, OWU does a great job of getting their students out into the world."

Kara Trott '83

Founder & CEO of Quantum Health

"I find myself drawing upon my liberal arts experience where I first learned to think critically – and that alone has paid huge dividends throughout my professional career and in my interactions outside the workplace."

Anusha Lalwani '08

Founder of Luxury Handbag Design Company

"My classes in economics helped me understand the market and work out my own budgeting systems, while psychology classes laid the foundation for my market research."

Maggie Smith '99

Author of three collections of poetry

"I think I started becoming a writer at OWU, thanks almost entirely to the mentorship and encouragement I received from my professors."

Amy Work '04

GIS Educator, Geoporter in Costa Rica

"OWU provided me with the foundation to know that you can learn and do whatever you want to. It shaped me into what I am today."

Dan Glaser '82

President & CEO, Marsh & McLennan Companies

"In today’s world, interdisciplinary thinking and lateral thinking are important skills. As a liberal arts student, you may not be learning a specific discipline like engineering or medicine, but your education is preparing you to ask questions."

Driss Sekkat '06

Award-winning documentary filmmaker

"OWU was incredible in every way. We had such a great journalism department."

Byron Pitts '82

Emmy-Winning ABC News Journalist

"No matter where I go, a part of Ohio Wesleyan and Delaware go with me."

OWU By the Numbers

91% of 2019 Grads had an OWU Connection Experience

Nine out of ten 2019 graduates had at least one OWU Connection Experience during their four years. Experiences include research, internships, community service, travel-learning, and semester study-away programs.

The OWU Connection

81% in Field of Choice

Four out of five recent OWU graduates report that they're working in their field of choice.

Graduate Outcomes

Theory-to-Practice Projects

More than $1.67 million has been awarded from University funds to over 800 OWU students, faculty, and staff in Theory-to-Practice projects around the world.

Theory-to-Practice Grants