Welcome to Cleveland State University! You will find that the Cleveland State faculty and staff pride themselves on student success. We have high expectations for both ourselves and our students as a transformational institution of higher learning. The majority of our undergraduate students are the first generation in their families to go to college and most of them work to pay for their education. As a result, CSU must be the three A's to our students: aspirational, accessible and affordable.

The CSU Vision Statement reflects these goals.

“We will be recognized as a student-focused center of scholarly excellence that provides an accessible, engaged and exceptional education to all. We will be a place of opportunity for those who seek truth, strive toward excellence and seek a better life for themselves and for their fellow citizens. As a leader in innovative collaboration — both internally and externally — with business, industry, government, educational institutions and the community, the University will be a critical force in the region's economic development. We will be at the forefront of moral, ethical, social, artistic and economic leadership for the future and embrace the vitality that comes with risk. We will be the strongest public university in the region and be known for our scholarship and diversity in service to students and to our community.”

With new undergraduate entrance standards, an Honors Program and the largest ratio of graduate students to undergraduate students in the State, CSU is an academically challenging institution. The Honors Program, in its third year, attracted an entering class that has an average ACT score in the 93rd percentile of college bound students.

CSU is an integral part of the Cleveland economy. We have more than 90,000 graduates, 85 percent of whom live, work and contribute to life in northeast Ohio. We educate the teachers, physical therapists, nurses, engineers, lawyers, business managers, psychologists, public administrators, computer scientists, artists, writers and chemists in, and for, Northeast Ohio. For example, over 250 Ph.D. students have graduated from the joint Ph.D. Programs with the Cleveland Clinic in molecular biology, chemistry and biomedical engineering.   One graduating class alone pays over $1 million annually in state taxes, or $39 million over their projected lifetimes.

Our faculty brought in over 30 million dollars last year to support research, including over 60 projects funded by NIH, NSF and NASA.  Many of these over 350 funded projects will have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of the citizens of Northeast Ohio. A short list of research topics include: water quality, health care disparities, transportation, wind power, childhood literacy, fuel cells, obesity, cancer, birth defects, election integrity, public policy and Cleveland history.

This fall, 50 new faculty chose to bring their talents as scientists, mathematicians, historians, musicians, economists, and educators to Cleveland and CSU.  They join a distinguished faculty of 600 who have trained at many of the top institutions in the world, including MIT, Harvard, The London School of Economics, The Rockefeller University and the University of Chicago. Last year these faculty members received seven Fulbright awards, second in the nation. Ninety-two percent of faculty at Cleveland State hold a Ph.D. or highest degree in their field. Students at CSU are taught by the faculty, not graduate students, in small classes with state of the art technology.

We encourage our students to combine real world experience with their academic plan. Each year, more than 1,000 Cleveland State students take advantage of our corporate partnerships, working in co-ops for more than 250 employers and earning more than $9 million in fields ranging from engineering to business to criminal justice. More than 1,000 companies nationwide have a Cleveland State graduate at the helm as CEO, President or Chairman. The pass rate on national and state licensing exams for teachers and health care professionals approaches 100% every year. The Nance College of Business is ranked in the top ten nationwide in performance of its Certified Public Accountant graduate students.

The campus environment is undergoing a physical transformation with the recent opening of Fenn Tower for student living, the new Student Recreation Center and the ongoing plaza reconstruction. These are but a small part of Building Blocks for the Future, Cleveland State 's $179 million master plan. These physical enhancements mirror both our internal academic enrichment and our strong community partnerships.

CSU is not only transforming buildings, it is transforming lives. Please join us in the “brain gain” of Cleveland at CSU!

MJ

Mary Jane Saunders
Provost