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DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University is already reaping the rewards from several initiatives announced last spring, beginning the new academic year bucking trends that are plaguing higher education.
Enrollment is growing. More students are persisting toward graduation. Innovative partnerships and programs are elevating OWU's national reputation and creating new opportunities for first-generation and low-income students. Constructive dialogue training is preparing students to converse rather than confront. And financially, the university has built a solid base with a strong outlook.
Ohio Wesleyan's new class of first-year students is not only significantly larger than last year's group, but is also the university's most diverse class ever. Fully one-third of the class are students of color or international. Perhaps most significant, 38% are first-generation college students.
Ohio Wesleyan spurred this growth by launching a series of new initiatives, including the Delaware County Promise, which provides full-tuition scholarships for students from Delaware County whose families have incomes under $100,000, and new scholarships, academic support, and internship programs for first-generation students. The university's successful Summer Bridge program continued to grow this summer, helping 36 first-generation students and students of color adjust to college life. The three-week residential program is free to invited students.
First-to-second-year retention for all students this fall is on track to match last year's rate (84%), which was the highest in more than a decade.
"Higher education needs to expand access to more first-generation students," said OWU President Matt vandenBerg, Ed.D. "More importantly, we need to provide the academic support to make college success more attainable for first-gen and all students. We have set out to become a premier destination in the U.S. for first-generation college students."
Alumni excited about the first-generation and other university initiatives donated more than $20 million in gifts and pledges during the past year, including an anonymous gift to renovate an old fraternity house into a new student hub with spaces for games and live music, patios, and more. Those gifts, along with investment returns, boosted OWU's endowment to more than $300 million.
A new partnership with Columbus State Community College also helped attract 45 new transfer students this fall, a 125% increase over last year and the largest class of transfer students in the past decade. The partnership created 2+2 degree pathways for CSCC students in more than 20 majors and guaranteed that up to 25 CSCC students with a 3.5 GPA or higher transferring to OWU would pay the same tuition rate at OWU as the full-time tuition rate at the community college.
When the schools announced the partnership in April, CSCC President David Harrison said it "will change the educational landscape in groundbreaking ways."
Another bold new partnership, with Claflin University, a Historically Black University in South Carolina, also is set to expand this year. Recent OWU alumni are now in graduate programs at Claflin, and the two universities are planning student exchange opportunities.
Enrollment growth from the new programs and partnerships has helped OWU deliver its largest budget surplus in more than a decade. According to vandenBerg, OWU will use surplus funds to increase scholarships, expand programs promoting student success, invest in academic programs, and build up a deferred maintenance fund for a campus where many buildings are more than a century old.
"At a time when many colleges and universities across the country are cutting back on people and programs, Ohio Wesleyan is hitting on all cylinders, fueled by the remarkable work of our faculty and staff," vandenBerg said. "We all know higher education is operating in a difficult environment, but the OWU community is working with a sense of adventure and downright rebellion against the status quo."
Indeed, faculty recently overhauled the university's central academic program for the first time in 50 years, shifting the focus to core skills that employers value, experiential learning, and a first-year seminar immersing students in the liberal arts.
One more trend that Ohio Wesleyan is challenging this year is the increase in confrontation on campuses across the country – and throughout society. OWU is launching campus-wide training to become one of the nation's first colleges to prepare all students and employees to navigate difficult conversations.
Ohio Wesleyan is teaming with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, to provide CDI's evidence-based civil discourse training to all OWU students, faculty, and staff. The goal is to have everyone earn a certificate in civil discourse and then to practice the art of constructive dialogue in classrooms, special events, and conversation sessions throughout the year.
"Our entire campus is all-in on this effort," vandenBerg said. "The current state of our world required bold action to spearhead meaningful change in civil discourse, and we took it."
OWU Provost Karlyn Crowley, Ph.D., added, "Ohio Wesleyan will be a national model for how we preserve democracy."
In September, OWU will conduct Ohio's largest and most lucrative business plan competition, the first U.S. Entrepreneurship Competition at Ohio Wesleyan. The prize package is valued at half a million dollars, and the student and professional winners will incubate in the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at OWU, where they will have access to intellectual capital and services to advance their business ideas.
OWU will announce the winners in October.
From a firm financial base, a fresh academic program, and a penchant for innovation, Ohio Wesleyan plans to continue to take bold steps to attract and serve new generations of students.
"This isn't mission accomplished. It's mission launched," vandenBerg said. "We're just getting started."
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.