Cleveland State University

About Cleveland State University

Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. CSU absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall School of Law in 1969.Today it is part of the University System of Ohio, has more than 120,000 alumni, and offers over 200 academic programs amongst eight colleges. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity"

Why Should Study at Cleveland State University?

Cleveland State University (CSU) shares knowledge, research and resources to make a positive and meaningful difference not only within our campus community but also in the local community and beyond. Our online programs are offered primarily in asynchronous formats, so you don't have to put your personal and professional life on hold while developing your career to its fullest potential. Since 1964, CSU has enjoyed a legacy in higher education, upward mobility and community well-being, ensuring students don’t have to choose between quality and cost. More than 140,000 students have graduated from CSU within the eight colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Public Affairs and Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health, Honors and Law. Academic programming includes more than 1,000 courses supporting 200 major fields of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Cleveland State University partners with more than 250 organizations to provide a well-rounded education, including the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, the City of Cleveland, NASA Glenn Research Center, other business enterprises, the federal government and higher education institutions. Cleveland State University is nationally recognized by esteemed organizations. Our online programs provide the flexibility you need with the same rigor and support our on-campus students receive, in tandem with prominent faculty, up-to-date curriculum and research opportunities.

Campus

CSU's main campus in downtown Cleveland is bounded on the east and west by Interstate 90 and East 17th Street, respectively; and by Payne Avenue to the north and Carnegie Avenue on the south. It also has a satellite campus in Westlake, Ohio which is in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area in Cuyahoga County. As of spring 2013, the combined student body (undergraduate and graduate students) totaled over 17,000.

In 2006, Cleveland State University completed its state-of-the-art student Recreation Center, and a renovation of Parker Hannifan Hall for the College of Graduate Studies.

To make the campus more amenable to residence and increase the number of students living on campus thousands of housing units were built, anchored by a new dormitory, Fenn Tower, a reuse of the school's most historic building. Fenn Tower housed what was the world's longest Foucault pendulum, but the pendulum was removed during the residence hall renovation in 2006 and is now in the Cleveland State University archives.

The university worked with private developers and the City of Cleveland to develop housing, retail, and "collegetown" amenities around Fenn Tower, particularly along the main thoroughfare of Euclid Avenue. In 2010, Euclid Avenue was upgraded as part of the Euclid Corridor Project which brought bus rapid transit to the university and connected Public Square in downtown Cleveland to University Circle, approximately four miles to the east. Cleveland State University's $65 million construction project, intended to transform the campus from a mostly commuter school into a residential campus, included the new Student Center and Julka Hull, which houses the College of Education and School of Nursing. Both projects were finished in 2010.

In 2011, the new Euclid Commons dorms complex, which features apartment-style living for CSU students, opened. That same year, the university's Dramatic Arts Program moved into the renovated Middough Building and Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square Center in collaboration with the Cleveland Play House.

In 2012, CSU opened the Galleries At CSU on Euclid Avenue. Also in 2012, Cleveland State University partnered with the South China University of Technology allowing students to complete their education and receive joint degrees. During the fall semester of 2012, the first phase of the private Langston apartment and retail complex opened along Chester Avenue across from Rhodes Tower. In the spring semester of 2013, the former Viking Hall dormitory was torn down to make way for the university's new Center for Health Professions. This was opened in the fall of 2015. The university is partnering with Northeast Ohio Medical University or NEOMED to train future health care professionals to specifically work in urban settings. They are working on adding a new physics department onto the campus and starting to build a better physics department.

In 2018, CSU established the CSU School of Film and Media Arts, having used a $7.5 million appropriation from the State of Ohio to renovate an entire floor of the IdeaStream Center at Playhouse Square. It is the first standalone film school in the State of Ohio.