Otterbein University Overview

Located in Westerville, Ohio, Otterbein University is a private not-for-profit institution. Westerville is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.

What Is Otterbein University Known For?

• Students at Otterbein have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 4%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• The highest award offered at Otterbein is the doctor's degree.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 49% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, Otterbein bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $43,100 a year. That's about 6% more than their peers at other schools.
• The average Otterbein student graduates in 4.2 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Otterbein University Rankings

Otterbein landed the #450 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. It is also ranked #18 out of 108 schools in Ohio.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Otterbein.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#2	Best Value Health/Medical Admin Services Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#12	Best Value Health Professions Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#27	Best Value Business, Management & Marketing Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#27	Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#40	Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#45	Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#82	Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#96	Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#123	Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#123	Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Otterbein has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#4	Best Outdoor Health & Physical Education/Fitness Schools	College Factual
#8	Best Musical Theater Schools	College Factual
#96	Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	College Factual
#98	Best Health & Physical Education Schools	College Factual
#112	Best Health & Medical Administrative Services Schools	College Factual
#197	Best Nursing Schools	Nursing Degree Search

Where Is Otterbein University?

Contact details for Otterbein are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	1 South Grove Street, Westerville, OH 43081
Phone:	614-890-3000
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/pages/Otterbein-University/154106131291768
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/otterbein

How Do I Get Into Otterbein?

You can apply to Otterbein online at: https://www.otterbein.edu/public/FutureStudents/Undergraduate/ApplyingAndRequirements.aspx

Admission Requirements for Otterbein

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	recommended
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	recommended
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Otterbein?

With an acceptance rate of 76%, Otterbein may not be as selective as some schools, but you should not take admittance for granted. Be sure to submit the best application you can.

Approximately 37% of accepted students are men and 63% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 78%, and the acceptance rate for women is 75%.

Average Test Scores

About 22% of students accepted to Otterbein submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 625. Math scores were between 500 and 600.

Otterbein received ACT scores from 91% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 19 and 26. Math scores were between 18 and 26. Composite scores were between 20 and 27.

Can I Afford Otterbein University?

The overall average net price of Otterbein is $31,677. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Otterbein, approximately 93% of students took out student loans averaging $7,675 a year. That adds up to $30,700 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Otterbein is 4.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Otterbein University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 2,313 undergraduate students at Otterbein, with 2,138 being full-time and 175 being part-time.

There are also 339 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 2,138 full-time undergraduates at Otterbein, 38% are male and 62% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Otterbein University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	69
Black or African American	158
Hispanic or Latino	131
White	1,621
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	156

Geographic Diversity

Ohio students aren't the only ones who study at Otterbein University. At this time, 24 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 16 countries are represented at Otterbein. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Japan, and South Korea.

Online Learning at Otterbein University

In 2019-2020, 2,140 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Otterbein has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 98th most popular in Ohio for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Growth Rankings of Otterbein

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Otterbein University was 154.0%. This is the #331 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Otterbein regardless of major.

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Otterbein ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Otterbein.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Nursing	#74
Health Professions	#215

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Otterbein University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Nursing	46	62	3	111
Business Administration & Management	31	23	0	54
Teacher Education Grade Specific	32	4	0	36
General Biology	35	0	0	35
Health Sciences & Services	29	4	0	33
Health & Physical Education	31	0	0	31
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	25	0	0	25
Wildlife Management	24	0	0	24
Drama & Theater Arts	23	0	0	23
General Psychology	22	0	0	22
Public Relations & Advertising	20	0	0	20
Health & Medical Administrative Services	1	19	0	20
Communication & Media Studies	19	0	0	19
Teacher Education Subject Specific	11	7	0	18
Systems Engineering	17	0	0	17
Finance & Financial Management	15	0	0	15
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	15	0	0	15
Mathematics	15	0	0	15
Fine & Studio Arts	14	0	0	14
Marketing	12	0	0	12
Music	12	0	0	12
Accounting	11	0	0	11
Criminology	11	0	0	11
Natural Resources Conservation	10	0	0	10
Sociology	10	0	0	10
Animal Services	9	0	0	9
Computer Information Systems	9	0	0	9
Allied Health Professions	9	0	0	9
History	9	0	0	9
Writing Studies	8	0	0	8
Sustainability Science	7	0	0	7
Economics	7	0	0	7
Curriculum & Instruction	0	6	0	6
Special Education	0	6	0	6
Design & Applied Arts	5	0	0	5
Political Science & Government	4	0	0	4
English Literature (Other)	3	0	0	3
Liberal Arts General Studies	3	0	0	3
Philosophy	3	0	0	3
Chemistry	3	0	0	3
International Relations & National Security	3	0	0	3
International Business	2	0	0	2
Business/Corporate Communications	1	0	0	1
General English Literature	1	0	0	1
Ethnic Studies	1	0	0	1
Romance Languages	1	0	0	1
Religious Studies	1	0	0	1
Physics	1	0	0	1
Other Business, Management & Marketing	0	0	0	0
Human Resource Management	0	0	0	0
Management Information Systems	0	0	0	0
Journalism	0	0	0	0
General Education	0	0	0	0
Engineering Physics	0	0	0	0
Environmental Engineering	0	0	0	0
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	0	0
International Studies	0	0	0	0
General Physical Sciences	0	0	0	0
Public Administration	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	581	131	3	715

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Wdzinc under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.