2024 Top Online Colleges in Ohio

So you’re headed to Ohio for an online degree. That’s a great choice! Ohio is loaded with state initiatives that make attaining a degree affordable. We’ll take you to the one site where you can find every online degree or course in the state, tell you how to get a year of college for free, and point you toward the strongest programs. We’ll also tell you which schools have run into recent accreditation troubles before summing it all up with a list of resources that can take you one step closer to enrolling. If that sounds like a lot, don’t worry — we’ve kept it short and sweet.

Online Degrees in Ohio: What to Know

1. Find Every Online Course and Degree in Ohio

OhioLearns is a state-funded website that features two invaluable tools for the Buckeye State’s current and prospective distance learners.

• The first tool is a searchable degree and certificate catalog of programs from nearly 100 institutions, including community colleges, state universities and private colleges. Search by subject, institution, degree level and/or percentage available online. This isn’t a partial list of what’s out there; it’s everything!
• The second tool is a course catalog with similar parameters but which also allows you to filter by start and end date. And if you’re a high school student, you can even click a box to show only courses eligible for dual enrollment (see #2 below).

2. Finish Freshman Year Online for Free

In 2015 the Ohio state government initiated a program for high school students called College Credit Plus (CCP). Here’s what you need to know:

• 7th through 12th graders can earn high school credit and college credit simultaneously by enrolling in courses offered at any public college in Ohio (many private universities also participate).
• Once you’re admitted to a school as a College Credit Plus student, you’re allowed to take any course you meet the prerequisites for, including online classes.
• While not every institution places CCP courses online, many do, including both private and public colleges, and two-year and four-year institutions.

Many states have dual enrollment programs, but Ohio’s stands out for three reasons. First, if you’re a high school student in the state and you choose to take part in CCP at a public college, you won’t pay a dime — tuition, fees and textbooks are all covered. Second, there are no credit limits. You can take as many courses as you can handle, including during the summer. In practice, then, it’s entirely possible to finish your freshman year of college for free. Third, should you seek a degree from a different college than where you took CCP courses, the credits you earn will likely transfer anywhere in the state, thanks to the Ohio Transfer to Degree Guarantee (T2DG) (see #3 below).

3. Ohio Makes It Easy to Transfer Credits

Often, two colleges and universities make bilateral agreements to accept each other’s credits. That’s a really labor-intensive way of doing it, so Ohio has developed a better system. The Ohio Transfer to Degree Guarantee (T2DG) is a multilateral agreement covering the state’s 23 community colleges, 14 universities, and 24 regional branch campuses. (Here’s a map of public institutions.)

There are four types of coursework that automatically transfer between schools:

• Advanced Placement (AP) courses from high school, provided you score at least a 3 on the exam
• General education courses within the Ohio Transfer Module
• Military training and experience recognized by the American Council on Education
• “Guaranteed transfer-to-degree pathways,” which constitute foundational coursework toward a particular major.

Visit Ohio Higher Ed’s course reporting system to see which courses count toward each.

What might T2DG mean for you, a prospective distance learner? The big takeaway is that you have more options. If a community college is offering an inexpensive online course or degree that’s eligible for T2DG, you can enroll there and transfer when you’re ready.

4. Get Free Academic Support

One of the biggest fears many students have about learning online is that they won’t receive enough academic support to succeed. The Ohio eTutoring Collaborative addresses those fears by providing free online tutoring to students at member institutions.

As of 2017, over 30 of the state’s degree-granting public and private colleges participated by making trained tutors available 14 hours a day, seven days a week. Click on the member institution you want to attend to see which subjects have assigned tutors and how to use the system.

5. Ohio Is Strong in Online Nursing and Education Degrees

Ohio colleges offer a lot of online graduate degrees, and the state places its fair share of programs on U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best Online Graduate Education Programs. But it’s particularly top-heavy in online nursing degrees, with a couple of schools — The Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati — floating near the top of rankings for Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs.

Affordable Online Schools in Ohio

The schools below are special. They’ve made the cut on both our “Top Online” and “Most Affordable” lists by meeting our criteria for quality, flexibility, price, and use of financial aid money. (This is reflected in the CAG Score next to each school’s profile in our ranking.) There are nearly 200 higher education institutions in Ohio, many of them with online programs. To see how these schools stack up against competitors in terms of graduation rate and debt load, visit College Scorecard.

• Mount Carmel College of Nursing

  Mount Carmel runs online programs at the baccalaureate through doctorate levels. One selling point of the school is that its costs are transparent and easy to ascertain. Whereas many schools advertise reduced tuition but tack on myriad fees, extra fees are rare at Mount Carmel.

  Keep in mind that your payment may be lower after financial aid. Because Mount Carmel trains healthcare workers, it’s not uncommon for its graduates to have their school loans forgiven via the Nurse Educational Assistance Loan Program (NEALP). NEALP funds are reserved for Ohio residents, and priority goes to students with the most financial need. Twenty percent of the loan is forgiven each year the graduate works as a nurse in the state.

• Walsh University

  Online Learning at Walsh University is your first port of call for Walsh’s online degrees & education endorsements. Details on coursework & credit transfers are listed under each degree page. Many courses are offered in an 8-week accelerated format to make it easier on your pocket!

  Tuition varies depending on the program—the Online FAQ section outlines exact costs. One thing to note: due to state authorization, some programs may not be available to certain out-of-state residents. Be sure to check.

Online Schools in Ohio with Accreditation & Quality Concerns

Accreditation is essential for three reasons. First, it signifies that an independent group of educators has approved of the college’s academic programs, financial structures and student services. Second, only students at institutions accredited by government-recognized bodies are eligible for federal financial aid. Last, without accreditation your credits will not transfer to most schools and potential employers may not recognize your degree. Here’s what Ohio students need to know about accreditation:

• The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accredits Ohio’s public universities, community college, and private not-for-profit colleges. HLC provides a list of its Ohio institutions on its website.
• From HLC’s website, click on any “Public Disclosure Notices,” which explain negative actions the HLC has taken against a school. A notice is a preemptive warning that the school is headed the wrong way in a particular area; probation is an acknowledgement that the school crossed a line and is no longer in compliance; and show-cause means HLC is threatening to cut ties with the school.
• There are a few reasons your school might not show up on HLC’s list of Ohio colleges. It may be a branch campus of a college accredited in another state. It may be nationally accredited, which qualifies students for federal financial aid but limits credit transferability. Or it may not be accredited. To find out, visit the Council For Higher Education Accreditation’s (CHEA) database of accredited institutions and search for yours.

Not all colleges on the list below are equal. Some have just had minor hiccups, while others are in major trouble with accreditors and/or government regulators. Regardless, we think you should know their accreditation status before enrolling:

• John Carroll University

  The Higher Learning Commission placed John Carroll University, which offers online and hybrid classes to its students, on notice in early 2015 “because of concerns related to program quality, program review, assessment of student learning, financial management, shared governance, strategic planning, and systematic improvement.” The Commission will meet with the university in 2017 to determine if it has cleared up the issues. In the meantime, John Carroll remains fully accredited.

• Miami-Jacobs Career College

  Miami-Jacobs is an Ohio chain of for-profit schools operating traditional and online programs. In 2016 it shuttered four of its six campuses. Although its online students were unaffected by the closures, there’s usually only one reason for a proprietary school to suddenly close: They’re not making enough money.

• Ohio College of Massotherapy

  Ohio College of Massotherapy closed suddenly in 2016. Naturally, the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) withdrew its accreditation. So why mention it here? The school closed so suddenly that it didn’t even take down its website. If you’re using the contact form to request information, you may be waiting a long time.

• Remington College

  Remington College in Cleveland is part of a chain of career colleges blanketing the southeastern U.S. It also has an online campus. Although Remington is in good standing with its accreditor, the Accrediting Commission of Career Colleges and Schools (ACCSC), the Century Foundation criticized it in a 2015 report, The Covert For-Profit, claiming that its board of trustees is comprised of people who aim to benefit financially from its new status as a nonprofit. This calls into question the school’s commitment to serving students’ best interests.

• Urbana University

  The Higher Learning Commission placed Urbana University, which runs several online degree programs, on probation in 2014. HLC extended the probation in 2016 because the school had still not addressed Commission concerns that its governing board was not “sufficiently autonomous to make decisions in the best interest of the institution.” The Commission will meet with the university in 2017 to determine if it has fixed the area of noncompliance. In the meantime, Urbana remains fully accredited.

• Wilberforce University

  The Higher Learning Commission removed Wilberforce University, which offers online and blended degrees through its “CLIMB” program for adult learners, from show-cause in 2015. To make sure the university is back on the right track, the Commission will conduct an “evaluation no later than October 2017 focused on financial stability, planning, and consistency of quality in academic programs with a focus on the CLIMB program.”

• Winebrenner Theological Seminary

  The Higher Learning Commission placed Winebrenner Theological Seminary, which offers online classes to its students, on probation in 2015 “because of concerns related to resources and planning.” The Commission will determine in 2017 whether the seminary has fixed the area of noncompliance. In the meantime, Winebrenner remains fully accredited.

Ohio Online Education Resources

Accreditation

• Higher Learning Commission (HLC): Ohio’s regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, maintains a list of schools it accredits and discloses negative actions on its website.

Distance Learning Resources

• eStudent Services: eStudent Services is a member of the Ohio Technology Consortium. It runs two important services. The first is eTutoring, which provides students at over 30 Ohio colleges with free academic support. The second is OhioLearns, which features searchable catalogs of every online degree and course in the state.
• Ohio Department of Education: Like many states, Ohio runs several online public high schools. Visit the Department of Education’s website to see a list of e-schools.
• Ohio Higher Ed: Many of the websites and initiatives we’ve listed, including eStudent Services, are funded by the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Therefore, you can use its website as a portal to just about any distance education initiative in the state. In particular, we recommend that high school students explore College Credit Plus, a program that allows them to take free college courses.

Online Degree & Course Catalogs

• OhioLearns: OhioLearns falls under eStudent Services. Use it to find any online (full or partial) degree in the state as well as individual courses.
• Online Consortium of Independent Colleges & Universities (OCICU): Several Ohio colleges — Mount St. Joseph University, Ursuline College and Walsh University — are OCICU members, which enables their students to take online courses from other OCICU members. Select your home institution on the catalog search page to see available courses.