Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts university in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges.[9] Ohio Wesleyan has always admitted students irrespective of religion or race and maintained that the university “is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles.”[10][11]
The 200-acre (81 ha) site is 27 miles (44 km) north of Columbus, Ohio. It includes the main academic and residential campus, the Perkins Observatory, and the Kraus Wilderness Preserve.[12]
In 2010, Ohio Wesleyan had the eleventh highest percentage of international students among liberal arts colleges for the seventeenth straight year.[13] In its 2015 edition of U.S. college rankings, Niche ranked Ohio Wesleyan the 56th (out of 880 colleges) most politically liberal college in the U.S.[14] U.S. News & World Report ranked Ohio Wesleyan tied for 93rd among U.S. liberal arts colleges in its 2021 edition