For returning older students trying to earn a degree, students who can't afford to move away from their jobs, and those who plan to attend school part time, community college may be a good choice. Students who didn't have the best high school grade-point average, those with limited funds or those who aren't quite sure which career to pursue also make good community college candidates. Tuition is usually cheaper than at four-year institutions and because most cities or counties have at least one local community college, you can even save on rent and live at home. Community colleges offer two-year associate degrees in dozens of fields, after which you can transfer to a traditional four-year college or join the workforce. The Ohio Association of Community Colleges (ohiocommunitycolleges.org) is a good resource for researching local community colleges.
Liberal arts colleges offer broad-based courses in areas such as literature, history, languages, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences. They offer few or no graduate programs, focusing on undergraduate education, nor do they normally include training or education in the professions. Faculty tend to focus their efforts on teaching rather than research. Students looking for a college with small classes and and a close-knit community may want to consider applying to and attending a liberal arts school. Some well-known Ohio liberal arts colleges include Oberlin College (new.oberlin.edu), a highly selective private college with 2,800 students that's home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Marietta College (marietta.edu), home to nearly 1,500 students and more than 40 majors, including a few graduate programs. Find a complete listing of Ohio liberal arts colleges at Liberal Arts College Review (liberalartscollegereview.com/liberal_arts_college/stateid/OH).
Generally speaking, public universities offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, and are larger than liberal arts colleges. Universities usually have more in the way of Greek life and are divided into different "colleges" or "schools," such as education, engineering, business, and architecture. They frequently include graduate programs in such areas as business, medicine, and law. Faculty devote much of their time to research and frequently involve their students in the university's research studies. Although classes are usually larger, universities tend to have good name recognition. Tuition is lower for state residents than for out-of-state students. The largest public university in Ohio is The Ohio State University (osu.edu), with an enrollment of nearly 60,000 and graduate programs in dental medicine, optometry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, nursing, and occupational therapy. Others include Ohio University (ohio.edu), with an enrollment of 20,000 across five campuses; Kent State University (kent.edu), a research university with 38,000 students; and the University of Akron (uakron.edu), which has 29,000 students and is best known for its college of polymer science and polymer engineering.
Private universities tend to be more expensive than public universities, but sometimes offer more generous aid packages. Case Western Reserve University (case.edu), in the Cleveland area, is a top-ranked university and is home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. With an endowment of over $1.40 billion, Case is a research university that features schools of engineering, law, dental medicine, and nursing, among others. The University of Dayton (udayton.edu), Ohio's largest private university with 11,000 students, offers students more than 70 programs of study. Although Dayton is a Catholic university, it has more in common with public universities than it does with smaller religiously affiliated colleges and universities, offering graduate programs in law, education, business and clinical psychology, among others.
On the whole, Ohio's religiously affiliated colleges tend to be smaller than public and private universities. It's important to keep in mind that while some colleges maintain an affiliation to a specific religious group, this affiliation may be more historical in nature than practical. This means that at some religiously affiliated universities, religion is a major part of the campus culture and curriculum, while at other religious universities, religion plays a less prominent role. If attending a school with a strong religious inclination matters to you, it's important to visit a variety of religiously affiliated colleges before deciding which one's right for you. Religiously affiliated Ohio colleges include Xavier University, (xavier.edu), a Catholic university in Cincinnati; Ohio Wesleyan University (owu.edu), a Methodist university in Delaware; and the Siegal College of Judaic Studies (siegalcollege.edu) in Cleveland, which prepares students in Jewish religious studies.