Technology has made higher education accessible to more people than ever before. Colleges and universities across the country have added online degrees and programs to their curriculum. Students can now earn their degrees from wherever is most convenient for them with an increase of online colleges in Ohio. Interested in online colleges throughout the whole country? Check out our rankings of the best online colleges and universities in the United States.
With an increase in popularity, comes an increase in value for online education. Online degrees are valued and appreciated more by employers. In the past, some companies may not have considered a candidate with an online degree. With big name schools offering online degrees, students have more options when considering online education. Check out our rankings of the best online colleges in Ohio below.
List of Best Online Colleges in Ohio
Bowling Green State
- $9,096 In-State Tuition
- $17,084 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 72% Acceptance Rate
University of Cincinnati
- $9,322 In-State Tuition
- $25,656 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 73% Acceptance Rate
Ohio University
- $12,192 In-State Tuition
- $21,656 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 78% Acceptance Rate
Ohio State University
- $9,852 In-State Tuition
- $29,868 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 52% Acceptance Rate
Our team took many different factors into consideration when ranking the best online colleges in Ohio. Some of the criteria our team looked at included retention rates, graduation rates, and percentage of students actually enrolled in online courses. While those were some of the factors we looked at, our team looked at more than 10 different factors when compiling the rankings.
When ranking these colleges and universities, it was important that our team look at the online portion of these schools. The increased popularity of online higher education has pushed many colleges and universities to add online degrees. In order to distinguish between the traditional learning experiences these colleges offer and the online experience they offer, our team made sure to focus on the online aspects of these colleges. An example of this would be our team looking exclusively at the number of online degrees the online colleges are able to offer to prospective students.
Our rankings of the best online colleges in Ohio only contains public 4-year universities or private 4-year, not-for-profit colleges. Another constraint we put on the rankings when gathering data was that these schools had to offer at least 2 completely online undergraduate degrees. Our rankings for the best online colleges in Ohio are below.
Sort and Expand Tables
Feel free to sort the tables below based on the criteria most important to you. Expand the tables to see the full rankings for the best online colleges in Ohio.
Best Online Colleges in Ohio
The Best of the Best
The table above is our rankings for the best online colleges in Ohio. Our complete rankings looked at numerous different criteria in three different categories – academic factors, affordability factors, and online college factors. Our team collected most of the data from the National Center for Education and filled in missing data values manually. Each of the above categories was given different weights based on what our team thought was most important for students looking to enroll in online college. If one of these categories is more important to you than others, check out our Ohio online college rankings based solely on academic factors or affordability factors.
These rankings should be used as a resource for students thinking about pursuing an online education. Students should use our list as a basis for conducting their own research. We assigned specific weights to various factors we considered important for online colleges – what we consider important may not be as important to you. Use this guide as a way to narrow down your search for the best online colleges in Ohio. Read below for some more information on the top 5 online colleges in Ohio from our rankings.
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University is located in Bowling Green, Ohio. The school is a public research university with an enrollment of 17,540. Bowling Green offers 7 online bachelors programs and 12 online masters programs. Some of the various online masters programs offered at Bowling Green include business administration in accounting, finance, and supply chain management, as well as criminal justice, strategic communication, and food and nutrition.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 7
- Masters Programs Offered – 12
- Graduation Rate – 53%
- Retention Rate – 77%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 71%
- % Students Admitted- 72%
University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati is a public university with an enrollment of 37,886. University of Cincinnati is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school offers 8 online bachelors programs and 15 online masters programs. Some online bachelors programs they offer include criminal justice, health information management, substance abuse counseling, and medical laboratory science. University of Cincinnati was on our list of best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 8
- Masters Programs Offered – 15
- Graduation Rate – 67%
- Retention Rate – 86%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 54%
- % Students Admitted- 73%
Ohio University
Ohio University is located in Athens, Ohio and is home to more than 28,000 students. Ohio University is the oldest university in Ohio and was the first university to be chartered by an Act of Congress in 1787. Ohio University offers 11 online bachelors programs and 16 online masters programs. Some of their online bachelors programs include masters of business administration, accountancy, and sports management, as well as masters of science in chemistry, and geological sciences.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 11
- Masters Programs Offered – 16
- Graduation Rate – 64%
- Retention Rate – 81%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 60%
- % Students Admitted- 78%
Ohio State University
Ohio State is located in Columbus, Ohio and was founded in 1870. The school was originally called the Ohio Agriculture and Mechanical College. The school has 61,170 students enrolled and has numerous satellite campuses. Ohio State only offers 2 online bachelors programs but offer 11 online masters programs. Some of the online masters programs offered include business analytics, social work, healthcare innovation, and learning technologies.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 2
- Masters Programs Offered – 11
- Graduation Rate – 84%
- Retention Rate – 95%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 66%
- % Students Admitted- 52%
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State was founded in 1908 and is located in Youngstown, Ohio. The school has a current enrollment of 12,607 and is a public university. Youngstown State offers 6 online bachelors programs and 5 online masters programs. Some of the various online masters programs offered include criminal justice, financial economics, and educational administration.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 6
- Masters Programs Offered – 5
- Graduation Rate – 31%
- Retention Rate – 76%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 71%
- % Students Admitted- 69%
Most Affordable Online Colleges in Ohio
After ranking the best online colleges in Ohio we decided to do another ranking. For this ranking, we only considered affordability factors. Some of the factors we used for this ranking included in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, and the percentage of students who received any sort of financial aid. Sort through the table below to learn more about the schools and see which online colleges are the most affordable in the state of Ohio.
Best Academic Online Colleges in Ohio
If academics are most important to you, check out our list of the best academic online colleges in Ohio. As more schools add online programs and degrees, quality of online programs continues to increase. Traditional big name schools are adding more online programs to their curriculum and increasing the value of an online degree. The continuing increase for online degrees and programs will encourage more schools to add online offerings which is a big win for students around the country.
Rankings
Our online college rankings for the state of Ohio took a lot of different criteria into consideration. We only looked at 4-year public colleges or universities and 4-year private, not-for-profit colleges. We also only considered schools that offered at least 2 undergraduate online programs.
After compiling a list of colleges that met the above criteria, we looked at various factors that we felt were important when ranking online colleges. We looked at retention rates, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, number of online course offerings, and other various online college factors.
Online College FAQS
According to our findings, the best online school in Ohio is Bowling Green State University. Bowling Green has a great combination of online programs offered and price. BGSU has an in-state tuition of $9096 and an out-of-state tuition of $17084. Bowling Green currently offers 7 online bachelors programs and 12 online masters programs.
According to our findings, the most affordable online college in the United States is Piedmont International University. The school has a flat tuition rate of $9100 and 97% of their students receive some sort of financial aid. The most affordable online college in Ohio is Youngstown State University. In-state tuition is $8899 and 71% of their students receive financial aid.
Ohio State was ranked number 4 on our list of best online colleges in Ohio. They currently only offer 2 online bachelors degrees but offer 11 online masters degrees. Some of the various masters degrees they offer include business analytics, social work, healthcare innovation, and learning technologies.