by our College Data Analytics TeamIt's not easy to decide which college to attend when you have so many options available. At College Factual, we're committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our Top Ohio Colleges ranking.
We analyzed 91 colleges and universities across Ohio to determine which were the best in terms of overall quality. Our ranking is based on over 20 objective factors, including post graduate earnings, freshman retention, and graduation rate. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another.
We've developed a number of other tools and rankings to help you make your college decision. Start by filtering this list by location or field of study and then explore our other rankings that feature schools great for different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
We've created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you're torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2025 rankings named Ohio State University - Main Campus the best school in Ohio in terms of overall quality for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $60,409 during the early years of their career..
Out of the 91 schools in Ohio that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northwestern Ohio landed the #2 spot on the list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $50,968 during the early years of their career..
Out of the 91 schools in Ohio that were part of this year’s ranking, Case Western Reserve University landed the #3 spot on the list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Case Western is $87,989 during the early years of their career.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Union Institute & University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Ohio.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Union go into careers with an average salary of $64,080 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #5 on our Best Colleges in Ohio list means Miami University - Oxford is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $55,076 during the early years of their career..
University of Cincinnati - Main Campus came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
The low student loan default rate of 1.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1% Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UC make an average of $54,810 per year during the early years of their career.
Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking, coming in at #7.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $52,581 during the early years of their career..
University of Dayton landed the #8 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from UDayton go into careers with an average salary of $75,537 during the early years of their career.
Kent State University at Kent did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking, coming in at #9.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Kent State go into careers with an average salary of $45,388 during the early years of their career.
Xavier University landed the #10 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Xavier make an average of $64,873 per year during the early years of their career.
Kenyon College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Colleges in Ohio list.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon is $71,830 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, Denison University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio list.
The impressive student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $67,753 during the early years of their career..
Cuyahoga Community College District came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Cuyahoga Community College District is $35,654 during the early years of their career.
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Cincinnati State make an average of $40,137 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Toledo came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $50,632 during the early years of their career..
Kent State University at Stark did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking, coming in at #16.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Kent State University at Stark make an average of $45,388 a year.
Oberlin College landed the #17 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin make an average of $58,343 per year during the early years of their career.
Bowling Green State University - Main Campus did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking, coming in at #18.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $47,896 during the early years of their career..
Sinclair Community College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Colleges in Ohio list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Sinclair Community College make an average of $37,558 a year.
John Carroll University landed the #20 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. During the early years of their career, graduates from John Carroll make an average of $62,860 a year.
With a ranking of #21, Columbus State Community College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio list.
The student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Columbus State is $39,435 during the early years of their career.
Ashland University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Colleges in Ohio list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $52,928 during the early years of their career..
University of Akron Main Campus landed the #23 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $46,600 during the early years of their career..
The University of Findlay landed the #24 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Findlay go into careers with an average salary of $56,996 during the early years of their career.
Baldwin Wallace University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
The student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $54,122 during the early years of their career..
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.