Ratings & Rankings

The word is out: Ohio Wesleyan University is among the select, prime, choice colleges in the country.

Respected national publications have taken note of OWU's success and are writing about us. Read on for the experts' take on where we stand and why we're rated so highly.

U.S. News & World Report: OWU ranks among the 2025 "Best National Liberal Arts Colleges," "Top Performers on Social Mobility," and "Best Undergraduate Economics Programs."  Complete story

Payscale: OWU is ranked as one of 2023's top national, state, and liberal arts colleges in salary potential for graduates in their early and mid-careers. Complete story

Forbes Magazine: OWU ranks No. 1 in Ohio and No. 17 among "America's Most Entrepreneurial Colleges 2015." Complete story

Money Magazine: OWU ranks as one of Money's "Best Colleges in America." To create its 2024 list, Money examined 25 quality, affordability, and student outcomes data points from the nation's four-year colleges. The magazine chose only 745 of the more than 2,400 U.S. schools for its list. Complete story

National Science Foundation: Ohio Wesleyan ranks No. 68 among all U.S. colleges (public and private) for the percentage of STEM graduates who go on to earn doctoral degrees in STEM fields. OWU also ranks No. 46 in the United States for women who go on to earn doctorates as well as No. 21 for women who earn doctorates in the life sciences or biological sciences. The rankings come from the Council of Independent College's 2019 report, "Strengthening the STEM Pipeline Part II: The Contributions of Small and Mid-Sized Independent Colleges," using 2007-2016 data from the National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and Survey of Earned Doctorates.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges: One of the "best and most interesting" four-year colleges in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland – providing "strong preparation for graduate and professional school, a solid grounding in the liberal arts, real-world experience, and an emphasis on having fun outside the classroom." Complete story

Colleges That Change Lives: One of 45 U.S. colleges and universities included in the latest guidebook created by a former New York Times education editor. Newest edition

The small university ... is a shining beacon of what happens when a campus embraces collaboration in the context of liberal learning. All types of students are engaged. Professors are invigorated. 

Colleges That Change Lives

 

Washington Monthly: Among the nation's top liberal arts colleges for 2024, selected "based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research, and promoting public service," and among the Midwest's "Best Bang for the Buck" schools for 2024, based on "how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices." Complete story

The Princeton Review: One of 2025's "Best 390 Colleges" in the United States. Only about 15% of America's four-year colleges are profiled in the book, according to its editors, and they are chosen based on eight categories, including academics, admissions selectivity, financial aid, and quality of life collected annually.

Study Abroad Aide: OWU ranks among the top 18% of 8,536 colleges and universities worldwide based on Study Abroad Aide's 2025 rankings. The rankings include universities in 82 countries and are based on factors including the percentage of a school's international student population and its academic reputation. Complete story.

Columbus Navigator: No. 18 among the "most influential colleges and universities in Ohio," as well as No. 242 in U.S. influence and No. 809 in global influence. The rankings are based on influence tracking provided by AcademicInfluence.com. The ranked schools represent "the top Ohio universities and colleges with rich histories of developing influential scholars and thought leaders," Columbus Navigator states. Complete story

MORE GOOD NEWS AND NUMBERS

Over the past 10 years, Ohio Wesleyan students have been accepted into medical school 100% of the time when their OWU GPAs and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores are at or above the national mean for accepted students.

A 2017 New York Times report shows 66.9% of lower-income OWU students moved to the top 40% in income 10 years after graduation - a higher mark than schools such as Denison, Kenyon, Miami, Oberlin, and Wooster.

PHI BETA KAPPA includes OWU among the top 10% of America's most distinguished colleges and universities with a chapter of the nation's oldest academic honor society. Complete story

Ohio Wesleyan is located within the City and County of Delaware, both consistently ranked as great places to live, work, and raise a family.

The City of Delaware (with nearly 44,000 residents) has been recognized by Money Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Places to Live in America" and by WalletHub.com for being in the 70th percentile of America's best small cities based on economic health, affordability, quality of life, safety, and education and health.

Delaware County (with more than 226,000 residents) is recognized routinely as one of Ohio's fastest-growing and finest communities, with a desirable quality of life that includes low unemployment and strong schools.

Recent rankings and accolades for the Delaware area include:

Ohio Wesleyan is located about 30 minutes from Ohio's capital city of Columbus. Recent rankings for Columbus include: