Five Colleges of Ohio

The Five Colleges of Ohio is an academic consortium of selective private liberal arts colleges in the U.S. state of Ohio. <p>
The members are:

• Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
• Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
• Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio
• Denison University, Granville, Ohio
• College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

Missing image COWkaukewalkway.jpg Kauke walkway		Missing image DSCN4646_oberlincollegepetershall_e2.jpg Oberlin Memorial Arch
Wooster's Kauke Walkway	Ohio Wesleyan's Gray Chapel	Oberlin's Memorial Arch

It is a nonprofit educational consortium established in 1995 to promote the broad educational and cultural objectives of its member institutions. The consortium is an outgrowth of a highly successful collaboration and friendly academic and athletic rivalries among the five institutions. According to the Princeton Review, the average selectivity rankings for The Five Colleges of Ohio is 95 on a scale from 60 to 99 (placing them among the most selective universities and colleges not only in Ohio but in the United States).

History

It was founded in the early 1990s after informal discussions have been formalized by the incorportation of the organization on June 30, 1995. The five colleges had been been affiliated as members of state and national educational and athletic organizations and had enjoyed friendly rivalry in various academic and athletic competitions, similar to Little Three in New England.

A grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, awarded in June 1995, provided for the development of a joint library system, establishment of an administrative structure, and investigation of the benefits and methods for sharing digital images and multimedia resources, establishing The Five Colleges of Ohio, Inc. as a legal entity.

Academic Collaboration

The five colleges collaborate on various academic projects. During 2004 and 2005 collaboration has been active in language videoconferencing in languages are less commonly taught. The five colleges collaborate in the instruction of Arabic language courses and significant applications of teaching technology in joint teaching enterprises.

Athletic Rivalry

The five schools have been athletic rivals for almost a century now. The informal athletic rivalry was formalized in 1984 when the five colleges left the Ohio Athletic Conference to form a new league, beginning with the 1984-85 acedmic year. A desire for greater uniformity in academic and athletic standards was cited as the major motive for the withdrawal of these schools from the OAC. [1] (http://www.oac.org/Ohio%20Althletic%20Conference/General%20OAC/History/OAC%20History.pdf).

It was in February, 1983 that the North Coast Athletic Conference was created to "foster a complementary relationship between intercollegiate athletics and the pursuit of academic excellence". [2] (http://www.northcoast.org/timeline/83_88.html). Each league member was to have seven sports for both men and women and each school would go off campus for recruiting. It was decided that there would be no athletic scholarships.

Students

A majority of students at all five schools self-identify themselves as liberal. Students at Oberlin, Kenyon and Wesleyan have the highest percentage of liberal students while Denison attracts the highest percentage of students who identify as conservative and very conservative.

Other features of the student bodies at the five schools exist. Oberlin attracts the highest percent of out-of-state students, followed by Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan. Ohio Wesleyan has the highest percent of international students among the five schools and is currently the fifth college with the highest percentage of international students among liberal arts colleges. Oberlin and Wooster typically have the highest percentage of students continuing for PhD degrees immediately following graduation.

External links

• Five Colleges of Ohio official site (http://www.ohio5.org/)