Ohio ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in Ohio

The 50 largest of the 257 Ohio colleges and universities that report an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

61,443
Largest in Ohio
257
Institutions reporting
414
Median Ohio institution
#7
of 51 states by enrolment

Ohio State University-Main Campus is the largest institution in Ohio with 61,443 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, Ohio State University-Main Campus leads Ohio at 61,443 students, and the five largest hold 30% of state enrollment. This list covers the 50 largest of 257 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in Ohio
61,443
Institutions reporting
257
State students in top 5
30%
Median Ohio institution
414

Ohio in one line

Ohio State University-Main Campus is the largest institution in Ohio with 61,443 students, about 148x the 414 of the median institution in the state. The five largest hold 30% of the state's students, a middling concentration: large institutions matter here without crowding out the rest.

61,443
students at Ohio State University-Main Campus
30%
of state students, in the top 5
624,332
students enrolled across Ohio
2,394
the #50 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

These 50 largest institutions enroll 81.7% of Ohio's students; the other 207 reporting institutions hold the remaining 18.3%. Among the 50 mid-to-large campuses on this list, 32 sit below the 1.58 national median incident rate, and 1 also appear in the national safest-50.

81.7%
of state students, in these 50
32
below 1.58 national median /1k
1
also in national safest-50
5.91
Ohio State University-Main Campus rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

Showing the top 50 of 257 Ohio institutions by enrollment (510,305 of 624,332 students, 81.7%). The remaining 207 reporting institutions enroll 18.3% of the state total and are omitted from this capped ranking, not from the underlying federal tables.

What this ranking shows about Ohio

Ohio is the 7th largest US jurisdiction by total enrolment, teaching 3.1% of all reported US students. The 257 institutions reporting enrolment here split 101 public to 156 private, so neither sector defines the top of this list on its own.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

The bar to make Ohio's top-50 list is 2,394 students. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 257 Ohio institutions reporting enrollment:

The bar to make Ohio's top-50 list

Clery-reported enrollment · 257 Ohio institutions · 2024

2,394 Top 19% higher than 81% of 257 Ohio institutions

Show national distribution 0–7,000: 234 Ohio institutions (91%). This entry sits in this band. 7,000–14,000: 12 Ohio institutions (5%). Above this entry. 14,000–21,000: 6 Ohio institutions (2%). Above this entry. 21,000–28,000: 2 Ohio institutions (1%). Above this entry. 28,000–35,000: 1 Ohio institutions (0%). Above this entry. 35,000–42,000: 0 Ohio institutions (0%). Above this entry. 42,000–49,000: 1 Ohio institutions (0%). Above this entry. 49,000–56,000: 0 Ohio institutions (0%). Above this entry. 56,000–63,000: 1 Ohio institutions (0%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 0 63,000 every Ohio institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Ohio institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

The 50 largest of Ohio's 257 institutions

25
Xavier University Cincinnati, OH · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
5,501
Incidents /1k
5.82
31
Ashland University Ashland, OH · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
4,106
Incidents /1k
0.73
35
Tiffin University Tiffin, OH · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
3,831
Incidents /1k
3.39
42
Oberlin College Oberlin, OH · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
2,909
Incidents /1k
3.78
50
Denison University Granville, OH · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
2,394
Incidents /1k
11.28
# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public 61,443 100% of the leader · rank #1 5.91
2 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public 45,026 73% of the leader · rank #2 3.73
3 Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH · Public 28,081 46% of the leader · rank #3 0.36
4 Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public 26,374 43% of the leader · rank #4 2.20
5 Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public 26,323 43% of the leader · rank #5 3.08
6 Sinclair Community College Dayton, OH · Public 19,415 32% of the leader · rank #6 0.46
7 Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public 18,838 31% of the leader · rank #7 4.14
8 Cuyahoga Community College District Cleveland, OH · Public 17,840 29% of the leader · rank #8 0.67
9 Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public 17,594 29% of the leader · rank #9 1.14
10 University of Toledo Toledo, OH · Public 14,358 23% of the leader · rank #10 2.16
11 Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH · Public 14,074 23% of the leader · rank #11 3.84
12 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public 13,332 22% of the leader · rank #12 3.75
13 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private nonprofit 12,475 20% of the leader · rank #13 4.57
14 Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH · Public 12,204 20% of the leader · rank #14 1.39
15 Wright State University-Main Campus Dayton, OH · Public 10,603 17% of the leader · rank #15 2.36
16 University of Dayton Dayton, OH · Private nonprofit 10,506 17% of the leader · rank #16 10.09
17 Stark State College North Canton, OH · Public 10,128 16% of the leader · rank #17 0.10
18 Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cincinnati, OH · Public 9,683 16% of the leader · rank #18 0.00
19 University of Cincinnati-Clermont College Batavia, OH · Public 9,479 15% of the leader · rank #19 0.00
20 Franklin University Columbus, OH · Private nonprofit 9,457 15% of the leader · rank #20 0.00
21 Lorain County Community College Elyria, OH · Public 9,350 15% of the leader · rank #21 0.96
22 Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH · Public 7,854 13% of the leader · rank #22 0.00
23 University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash College Blue Ash, OH · Public 7,787 13% of the leader · rank #23 0.00
24 Cedarville University Cedarville, OH · Private nonprofit 6,318 10% of the leader · rank #24 0.63
25 Xavier University Cincinnati, OH · Private nonprofit 5,501 9% of the leader · rank #25 5.82
26 Clark State College Springfield, OH · Public 5,077 8% of the leader · rank #26 0.00
27 The University of Findlay Findlay, OH · Private nonprofit 5,016 8% of the leader · rank #27 1.79
28 Edison State Community College Piqua, OH · Public 4,624 8% of the leader · rank #28 0.00
29 Lakeland Community College Kirtland, OH · Public 4,358 7% of the leader · rank #29 0.00
30 James A. Rhodes State College Lima, OH · Public 4,124 7% of the leader · rank #30 0.00
31 Ashland University Ashland, OH · Private nonprofit 4,106 7% of the leader · rank #31 0.73
32 Northwest State Community College Archbold, OH · Public 4,082 7% of the leader · rank #32 0.24
33 Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, OH · Private nonprofit 3,976 6% of the leader · rank #33 2.77
34 Hondros College of Nursing Westerville, OH · Private for-profit 3,857 6% of the leader · rank #34 0.00
35 Tiffin University Tiffin, OH · Private nonprofit 3,831 6% of the leader · rank #35 3.39
36 Kent State University at Stark North Canton, OH · Public 3,569 6% of the leader · rank #36 0.56
37 Marion Technical College Marion, OH · Public 3,346 5% of the leader · rank #37 1.20
38 Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH · Private nonprofit 3,305 5% of the leader · rank #38 0.91
39 Shawnee State University Portsmouth, OH · Public 3,231 5% of the leader · rank #39 1.55
40 Central Ohio Technical College Newark, OH · Public 3,182 5% of the leader · rank #40 0.63
41 Ohio Northern University Ada, OH · Private nonprofit 3,140 5% of the leader · rank #41 2.87
42 Oberlin College Oberlin, OH · Private nonprofit 2,909 5% of the leader · rank #42 3.78
43 John Carroll University University Heights, OH · Private nonprofit 2,864 5% of the leader · rank #43 1.05
44 Central State University Wilberforce, OH · Public 2,708 4% of the leader · rank #44 1.11
45 North Central State College Mansfield, OH · Public 2,553 4% of the leader · rank #45 0.39
46 Ohio State University-Newark Campus Newark, OH · Public 2,544 4% of the leader · rank #46 1.18
47 University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH · Private nonprofit 2,525 4% of the leader · rank #47 0.79
48 Miami University-Hamilton Hamilton, OH · Public 2,480 4% of the leader · rank #48 0.81
49 University of Mount Union Alliance, OH · Private nonprofit 2,461 4% of the leader · rank #49 0.41
50 Denison University Granville, OH · Private nonprofit 2,394 4% of the leader · rank #50 11.28

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Ohio, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-10-26.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.