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���ϳԹ� has been named one of just 21 R1 research institutions in the country — and the only R1 university in the state of Ohio — to be designated as an Opportunity College and University in the latest Carnegie Classifications, affirming OHIO’s national leadership in delivering a high-value education that leads to lifelong success. 

“This recognition affirms the values that guide us — a deep commitment to both access and excellence,” said President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “As an R1 institution and an Opportunity College, ���ϳԹ� is creating pathways for more students to succeed and to serve meaningfully in the communities where they live, work and lead.”

The Opportunity College and University designation is part of the new developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education. It identifies colleges and universities that successfully enroll Pell-eligible and underrepresented students and whose graduates outperform earnings expectations when compared to peers in their region.

The Carnegie R1 designation is reserved for universities that meet Carnegie’s highest thresholds for research productivity and doctoral degree conferrals. Only 187 of the nearly 4,000 institutions classified by Carnegie earned this status. 

Recognized among the few “professions-focused” universities

A deeper look into the newest Carnegie Classifications reveals that ���ϳԹ� is also one of only 40 institutions in the country to be designated as “professions-focused” among large universities that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees. 

Of those 40 universities, only eight — including OHIO — are also classified by Carnegie as an Opportunity College and University, placing OHIO among a small group of universities in the nation, and once again the only university in Ohio, with a broad portfolio of degrees that offer career-ready, professions-focused academic opportunities and deliver the highest return on a student’s educational investment. 

Carnegie’s “professions-focused” classification recognizes universities for which the majority of degrees awarded are in fields that are classified as pre-professional or career-aligned.

���ϳԹ�’s vision is to deliver the most valuable university education in Ohio, and this latest recognition from Carnegie, combined with our long-held leadership position as the best value public University in the state, demonstrates our commitment to that vision.

We promise price transparency, affordability and value through programs like our OHIO Guarantee+ tuition and graduation guarantee, our President’s Opportunity Promise Award for qualifying students in Southeast Ohio, and our competitive scholarship programs.

And, we’re equally committed to successful outcomes for our students by delivering high-quality career-aligned degrees and ensuring students have access to experiences that prepare them for their next step. In fact, we recently expanded our experiential learning funding support to reduce barriers to internships, research, study abroad and more. 

���ϳԹ�’s designation as a professions-focused institution is driven by continued growth in its College of Health Sciences and Professions and College of Business along with significant number of graduates completing degrees in fields such as journalism, education, and engineering. Plus, many of OHIO’s degrees in the sciences and liberal arts include the option to pursue a pre-professional track.

“We are grateful that the new Carnegie Classifications help tell a story we’ve always known to be true – that we hold the door open for students to have an unmatched educational experience that will prepare them for career success,” said ���ϳԹ�’s Executive Vice President and Provost Donald Leo. “These three important distinctions – an R1, professions-focused opportunity college – together reflect our unique identity as an institution that provides all undergraduate students access to experiences that ensure they're workforce ready.” 

For more information on the 2025 Carnegie Classifications, visit .

The largest producer of health care professionals for the state of Ohio

Of the nearly 30,000 students studying at one of OHIO's campuses or through OHIO Online, about one-third of them are preparing for a career in health care. More than 4,300 are enrolled in graduate or undergraduate nursing programs. Just under 1,000 are medical school students in OHIO’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Still more are studying fields like physical therapy, athletic training, environmental health, music therapy, health communications, health care administration and more. That all adds up to make OHIO the largest producer of health care professionals for the state of Ohio. 

OHIO’s Scripps College of Communication has long been known as one of the top universities in the country for future journalists. Eighty-seven of our alumni, students or faculty have won or shared in 58 Pulitzer Prizes.

As the media landscape has evolved, so has the Scripps College, which now trains a growing number of students for careers in Virtual Reality and Game Development, Animation, Music Production and more.

���ϳԹ�’s College of Business is one of the largest academic colleges on campus, falling just below the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Health Sciences and Professions in size.

One of the things that sets OHIO’s College of Business apart is its focus on delivering real-world experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Students can apply to one of eight competitive experiential learning programs in accounting, finance, management and leadership or marketing and sales.

For example, the Student Equity Management Group manages an equity portfolio in excess of $7 million for the ���ϳԹ� Foundation and students in the nationally recognized Schey Sales Centre earn experience with the centers more than 40 partner companies.

OHIO’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology has seen recent expansion in both programming and space. In fall 2024, the College launched the state’s first bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence. 

More recently, the Russ College celebrated the opening of the new Russ Research Opportunity Center, which will house approximately 20 research groups conducting more than $4.5 million in annual research funding and serve as home to several research centers and institutes, including the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, the Center for Advanced Materials Processing and the Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment.

���ϳԹ� educates future teachers who serve in K-12 districts across the state and is a significant provider of teachers for Appalachian Ohio.

To further recruit future teachers to the region and the state, the Patton College of Education launched the OHIO Patton Empower Veteran Education Program in January of 2025 to help military members and veterans transition to a teaching career.

Explore all of OHIO’s program offerings at ohio.edu/programs.