OHIO grows enrollment to more than 30,000, including more than 8,000 new students

As of the fall 2025 preliminary enrollment census date, Ohio University’s total enrollment was 30,682, a year-over-year climb of 3.6 percent, with overall growth fueled by a record incoming freshman class in Athens, increases in retention on the Athens and regional campuses, and continued enrollment growth across the OHIO Online portfolio. OHIO students hail from all 88 Ohio counties, 50 states, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and 100 countries worldwide.

The University welcomed 8,195 new students in undergraduate and graduate programs across all locations and online, including nearly 1,500 new students pursuing graduate degrees and nearly 250 new students training to become physicians at OHIO’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“What we’re seeing is that students and families are connecting to the commitment we have to ensuring every student not only graduates but graduates with a portfolio of experiences that set them up for success,” said OHIO President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “We are proud to be Ohio’s Best Value public university, and we’ve earned recognition for delivering incredible career outcomes for students. That combination of value, experience and outcomes is driving our enrollments.” 

OHIO set records (again) with its incoming Athens campus class of 2029, including record first-year student enrollment of 4,550. The class also brings with it a new record high incoming average GPA of 3.67, with more than a quarter of the class among the top ten percent in their high school graduating classes. This year’s incoming freshmen include 142 students who were ranked No. 1 in their graduating high school classes and more than 300 winners of the prestigious Governor’s Merit Scholarship.

A full quarter of the Athens freshman class are the first in their family to attend college, and more than 18 percent come from counties in Appalachian Ohio, demonstrating OHIO’s continued commitment to serving our region.

OHIO continued to see growth in student interest in our professionally-oriented academic colleges, including record first-year student enrollment in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Business and the College of Health Sciences and Professions, as well as year-over-year growth in students choosing to enroll in the programs in OHIO’s Patton College of Education and the Scripps College of Communication.

Notably, the College of Health Sciences and Professions saw nearly 20 percent growth in new student enrollment year-over-year. OHIO is home to one of the nation’s top 10 largest health-oriented academic colleges and produces more health professionals for the state of Ohio than any other public university.

OHIO is one of only 40 large national institutions to be classified by Carnegie as “Professions-Focused” because the majority of graduates are earning degrees in career-aligned fields.

Total enrollment for OHIO Online undergraduate programs climbed 5 percent year-over-year, and online graduate enrollment grew more than 6 percent.

Enrollment increases were seen across a diverse set of online programs, including OHIO’s top-ranked undergraduate online psychology program as well as project management, communication, business and interior architecture. At the graduate level, several OHIO Online programs also saw gains. The Patton College of Education, for example, grew nearly 30 percent in its master's programs year over year, and the College of Business experienced a 16 percent increase in Master's of Business Administration total enrollment.

OHIO Online combines a balanced portfolio of more than 60 undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty-led instruction and a deep student support infrastructure. This approach reflects OHIO’s mission to expand access while maintaining academic rigor and workforce relevance across all levels of postsecondary education.

Student retention from first to second year saw gains for OHIO’s Athens campus as well as across the University’s five regional campuses: OHIO Lancaster, OHIO Chillicothe, OHIO Southern, OHIO Zanesville and OHIO Eastern.

Retention in Athens climbed again to 84.7 percent after reaching its highest retention rate in 20 years in 2024. OHIO has seen steady gains in retention since completing the rollout of its OHIO Guarantee+ graduation plans, which provide students a clear curricular road map to on-time, on-plan graduation and a student success team designed to provide effective academic advising, access to experiential learning, and guidance through graduation to career.

OHIO experienced modest growth in total enrollment across its regional campuses, driven by increased retention. Additionally, OHIO Eastern saw an increase in new incoming students, and OHIO Lancaster and OHIO Chillicothe recorded growth in incoming transfer student enrollments.

OHIO’s regional campuses focus on delivering degrees in high-demand fields in the communities they serve, such as nursing, teaching, business and social work. The community-oriented commuter campuses offer affordable tuition, and OHIO’s Regional Promise allows qualifying recipients of the federal Pell Grant to attend tuition-free.

Total enrollment in OHIO's graduate programs across all campuses and online saw year-over-year growth of nearly 3 percent. New student enrollment in research doctoral programs grew by more than 6 percent, supporting OHIO's continued recognition among the nation's elite R1 research universities. The University saw substantial gains in PhD enrollment in selected research focus areas such as healthy aging, including, for example, a 20 percent increase in translational biomedical sciences student enrollment. 

As part of the University’s Dynamic Strategy, OHIO recently invested in 15 new research faculty positions to help advance the University’s research agenda, working alongside both undergraduate and graduate students.

“The growth we’re seeing across all of our campuses at all levels is reflective of the incredible momentum that this University has built under the leadership of President Gonzalez, as well as our focus on our mission and our students,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Candace J. Boeninger. “We’re not chasing growth for the sake of growth; rather, we’re focused on meeting our mission of holding the door open to higher education and pursuing our vision of connecting students with experiences that ensure lifelong success and fueling workforce and innovation in our state and beyond. We welcome our more than 30,000 new and returning students with that purpose in mind.”