College profile
Ohio State University (Columbus)
Listed in federal data as “Ohio State University-Main Campus”.
OH · Public · Large city · 70,028 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Engineering grads from here earn about $123,731 four years out; ethnic, cultural minority, gender, and group studies grads about $40,713 — a 3.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 100 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #28 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- There is merit money here, but you compete for it. Every named award at this college is competitive — the published GPA and score figures describe who tends to win them, not a bar that guarantees anything. Worth applying for; not worth counting on when you budget.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$30,305/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$60,409/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students. Affordable — net price averages ~$17,339/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.
Best for
- Strong academic profiles — students here cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
- Strong test/GPA students chasing merit aid — National Buckeye Scholarship on offer (see merit-scholarship tab below)
- In-state residents (tuition ~$13,244 — major value play)
- Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Engineering (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1330, or ACT below 29, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
- Out-of-state tuition is 3.0× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
14% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 35% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Ohio State University (Columbus) actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Ohio State University (Columbus)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$483K ahead at full price +$535K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Ohio State University (Columbus)
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Ohio State University (Columbus) actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Ohio State University (Columbus)'s own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer Engineering. | $123,731 |
| Applied Mathematics. | $120,495 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $118,833 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | $111,500 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | $110,192 |
| Industrial Engineering. | $106,932 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | $99,400 |
| Chemical Engineering. | $98,851 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | $97,986 |
| Engineering, Other. | $97,144 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Merit aidScholarship money awarded for grades or test scores, not financial need — at many colleges it's automatic at certain GPA/score levels.
What your test score unlocks at Ohio State University (Columbus)
Score-or-merit-based scholarships published by the institution. Stackable in most cases — confirm with the financial aid office.
| Award | Annual award | Score gate |
|---|---|---|
|
National Buckeye Scholarship
National Buckeye · out_of_state
|
$13,500/yr Fall 2026 published rate · source ↗ |
— |
See all merit scholarships across colleges + 13 national awards on /merit-scholarships →
Alternatives to Ohio State University (Columbus)
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Ohio State University (Columbus)?
Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Ohio State University (Columbus) and every other college on your list.
Get your child's odds at Ohio State University (Columbus) →Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Ohio State University (Columbus)?
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
57 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Ohio State University (Columbus) on it. Between them they printed 375 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Ohio State University (Columbus), from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
and 47 more
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
11 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Ohio State University (Columbus) on it. Between them they printed 69 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Ohio State University (Columbus), from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
and 1 more
All 68 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
For Parents
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantOhio State University (Columbus) is a public four-year college in OH. It admitted 51% of applicants (70,028 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1330–1480, ACT 29–32. 14% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 35% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $17,339 a year on average with aid, $30,305 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $60,409 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $534,734 ahead with aid, $482,870 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Engineering ($123,731); Applied Mathematics ($120,495); Computer and Information Sciences, General ($118,833).
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Ohio State University (Columbus): 57, 375 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often St Ignatius High School (60.3 per class year, 181 over 3 class years, Classes of 2023, 2024, 2025); Western Reserve Academy (8.0 per class year, 8 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); The Seven Hills School (7.8 per class year, 39 over 5 class years, 2021-2025). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/ohio-state-university-main-campus.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Ohio State University (Columbus): 11, 69 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often St Andrews School Of Boca Raton Inc (11.0 per class year, 11 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Archbishop Mitty High School (9.0 per class year, 9 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Oratory Preparatory School (7.0 per class year, 7 over 1 class year, Class of 2025). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/ohio-state-university-main-campus.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/ohio-state-university-main-campus.json