Ohio State
University-Main Campus
Public Research University in Columbus, OH. Six-year graduation rate 88%. Median 10-year earnings $60,409.
Students who entered Ohio State University-Main Campus reach a median of $60,409 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 88% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $19,976 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 88% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 61% puts Ohio State University-Main Campus on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. With 72,829 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield sits at 22% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 17% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 640–720 | 1,615 (17%) |
| SAT Math | 670–760 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–32 | 3,005 (31%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Ohio State University-Main Campus →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 88% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 94% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The part-time picture is harder: 31% return, against 94% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 44,617 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $19,783 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $4,885 at $0–30k versus $27,359 at $110k+. 64% of students receive grant aid, averaging $12,903 — common but not automatic. 29% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 8,034 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $4,885 |
| $30–48k | $5,751 |
| $48–75k | $9,807 |
| $75–110k | $20,461 |
| $110k+ | $27,359 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 13,122 of these 44,617 students, totalling $81,805,308 — an average of $6,234 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Franklin County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)