Application Requirements
Applicants must have graduated from high school or have successfully completed the General Education Development (GED) test to be considered for admission. Freshman applicants applying for admission to Youngstown State University must submit a high school transcript and American College Test (ACT) or Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores. Students are excused from this test score requirement only if they have been graduated from High School for two or more years.
Applicants must have a high school grade point average of 2.00 or higher on a 4.00 point scale, have an ACT composite score of 17 or higher, or a combined SAT score of 910 or higher from the evidence-base writing and reading test, and the math test to be admitted unconditionally.
Home-schooled applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Applicants are required to submit results from the ACT or SAT. Those applicants who have been out of school for two or more years are exempt from this requirement.
- An official transcript showing documentation of coursework completed of grades 9-12 and indicating date of completion of studies or graduation must be sent to Admissions.
- A copy of academic assessment (i.e. Iowa Basic Skills Test, California Achievement Test, etc.) reports submitted to the appropriate superintendent of school pursuant to Section 3301-34-04 of the Ohio Administrative Code must be received by Admissions.
- A copy of the Superintendent's Exemption Notice showing the student is excused to receive home schooling.
- Home-schooled students from states other than Ohio must submit the appropriate documentation required for allowing home-schooling in their state, along with above criteria #1, and #2.
Athletics Participation
Students planning to participate in intercollegiate athletics in their first year at YSU must take either the SAT or the ACT prior to enrolling in college. Please call the Office of Intercollegiate Athletics at (330) 941-2282 for more information about eligibility for athletics participation.
English Requirement
YSU requires proof that you have sufficient knowledge of the English language to follow your program of study. If your native language is not English, please see International Student Applicants .
Articulated Credit
In the presence of a formal agreement between Youngstown State University and a particular career center or high school, students may earn college credit for specified courses they successfully completed in high school. Youngstown State University has many program-specific articulation agreements with career and technical centers and high schools in the following counties: Columbiana, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, and Wayne. Students in those articulated programs of study receive instructions from their career and technical center or high school about how to have earned credits posted to their YSU transcripts after they enroll at YSU and meet college readiness criteria. Students who complete career-technical programs of study may also receive specified articulated college credit. For information about College Tech Prep at YSU visit their website.
High School Transcripts
Applicants must arrange to have their high schools send to the Office of Admissions a record of all work completed. Partial transcripts will be given consideration for early decisions. If the applicant's record clearly indicates satisfactory completion, notification of conditional acceptance will be made before high school graduation. Final high school transcripts showing a graduation date must be received prior to the first day of the semester in which the student is enrolled.
Conditional Admission
Students with a high school grade point average below 2.00 (out of 4.00) or a composite ACT below 17 (or SAT critical-reading and math composite below 820), or transfer students with a transfer GPA below 2.00 (out of 4.00), are not eligible for regular admission, but may be admitted with conditions after review by the Admissions Committee.
If a student has not taken the ACT or SAT, or does not have a high school GPA, the student is not eligible for regular admission, but may be admitted with conditions until a placement test is taken. Following the placement test, if a student tests into RSS 1510B Basic College Success Skills or ENGL 1539 Fundamentals of College Writing, the student will remain conditionally admitted. If a student tests out of both RSS 1510B Basic College Success Skills and ENGL 1539 Fundamentals of College Writing, the conditionally admitted status is removed.
Conditionally admitted students must meet the following requirements:
- Conditionally admitted students shall not be admitted during the summer session. Students who place into conditional admission status based on placement testing in the summer term will have their start date deferred to the fall semester.
- Conditionally admitted students are required to attend freshman orientation (SOAR); failure to do so will defer admittance to a subsequent semester. Transfer students may meet this requirement by attending a regular or transfer SOAR or by completing the online orientation module for transfer students.
- Conditionally admitted students shall be classified as having an undetermined major (CLASS, BCOE, BCHHS), a pre-major (STEM, CCAC) or an undeclared Business major (WCBA) designation, a status that shall remain until the student satisfies all requirements to exit the conditional admission classification.
- During their first semester, conditionally admitted students must fulfill a contract with the Center for Student Progress, which includes meeting weekly with their coordinator and two times during the term with their college academic advisor.
- Conditionally admitted students cannot register for more than 14 semester hours of courses in a single semester.
- Students placing into RSS 1510A Advanced College Success Skills, RSS 1510B Basic College Success Skills, ENGL 1539 Fundamentals of College Writing, or ENGL 1540 Introduction to College Writing must take these courses in their first semester. Students may not withdraw from these courses unless they make a complete withdrawal from the university.
- Conditionally admitted students are restricted to an approved list of courses (see course listing below).
- All conditionally admitted students are to be advised by their college’s professional advisors and not by faculty or departmental advisors.
- Conditionally admitted students must receive approval of their course schedule by a college academic advisor and may not make further changes without approval of the advisor.
- Conditionally admitted status is not to be applied to students in the BCHHS's Emergency Medical Services Certificate and Police Academy programs. Students accepted in the Police Academy are not required to take the placement test.
- If a Youngstown Early College (YEC) student has earned a GPA of 2.00 or above and has passed all required developmental courses, the student’s ACT or SAT test score will not be considered in establishing the student’s conditional admission status.
- Students entering Distance Learning Programs will not be considered for conditional admission status.
- Failure to fulfill the first semester guidelines and achieve good academic standing (a GPA of 2.00 or above) shall result in the conditionally admitted student being dismissed from the university. The student may not be admitted to any other YSU college until the dismissal period has expired.
The restrictions imposed on coursework and semester hours will be removed when the student has done the following:
- Successfully completed all developmental courses into which the student has tested:
Course List COURSE TITLE S.H. RSS 1510A Advanced College Success Skills 3 RSS 1510B Basic College Success Skills 3 ENGL 1539 Fundamentals of College Writing 4 or ENGL 1540 Introduction to College Writing - Successfully completed six semester hours of non-developmental courses.
- Achieved good academic standing (a GPA of 2.00 or above). See the Undergraduate Catalog for more information on academic standing.
- Fulfilled the conditional admission contract.
Students fulfilling these requirements may file a petition with a college academic advisor to have the restrictions and their conditionally admitted status removed.
Approved Courses for Conditionally Admitted Students
| COURSE | TITLE | S.H. |
|---|---|---|
| AFST 2600 | Introduction to Africana Studies 1 1 | 3 |
| AFST 2601 | Introduction to Africana Studies 2 1 | 3 |
| COUN 1587 | Introduction to Health and Wellness in Contemporary Society 1 | 3 |
| COUN 1589 | Success in Career and Life Planning | 3 |
| CSIS 1500 | Computer Literacy | 3 |
| ECON 1503 | Rich and Poor: Diversity and Disparity in the United States Workplace 1 | 3 |
| ENGL 1539 | Fundamentals of College Writing 2 | 4 |
| ENGL 1540 | Introduction to College Writing 2 | 3 |
| ENGL 1550 | Writing 1 1, 5 | 3 |
| ENGL 1551 | Writing 2 1, 5 | 3 |
| ENST 1500 | Introduction to Environmental Science 1 | 3 |
| ENST 1500L | Introduction to Environmental Science Lab 1 | 1 |
| GEOL 1500 | Environmental Geology 1 | 4 |
| GEOL 1500L | Environmental Geology Laboratory 1 | 0 |
| HAHS 1510 | Investigations into Social Classes in America | 3 |
| HIST 1501 | American Dreams: Introduction to United States History 1 | 3 |
| HPES 1500 | Physical Activity Core Concepts (Two HPES activity courses must be taken in addition to this course to satisfy the requirements for GER credit.) 1 | 1 |
| HPES 1500 and any two of the following activity courses counts as 3 s.h. for the SPS Domain of the GER: | 3 | |
| Volleyball 1 | ||
| Volleyball 2 | ||
| Archery | ||
| Badminton | ||
| Bowling 1 | ||
| Bowling 2 | ||
| Fencing 1 | ||
| Fencing 2 | ||
| Racquetball | ||
| Golf 1 | ||
| Golf 2 | ||
| Tennis 1 | ||
| Tennis 2 | ||
| Physical Fitness and Exercise Programs | ||
| Marksmanship | ||
| Advanced Physical Fitness and Exercise Programs | ||
| Recreational Games | ||
| Learn to Swim | ||
| Aquatics 2 | ||
| Aquatic Exercise | ||
| Step Aerobics | ||
| Folk and Square Dance | ||
| Aerobic Dance | ||
| Fitness Walking | ||
| Jogging | ||
| Racquetball 2 | ||
| Weight Training | ||
| Bicycling | ||
| Self-Defense | ||
| Judo | ||
| Selected Activities in Human Performance and Exercise Science | ||
| Camping | ||
| MATH 1501 | Elementary Algebraic Models 2 | 5 |
| MATH 1507 | Intermediate Algebra 2 | 3 |
| MATH 1513 | Algebra and Transcendental Function 3 | 5 |
| MATH 2623 | Quantitative Reasoning 5 | 3 |
| MSCI 1510 | Introduction to ROTC | 1 |
| MSCI 1520 | Introduction to Leadership | 1 |
| MSCI 1530L | Basic Course Leadership Laboratories | 0 |
| MUHL 2621 | Music Literature and Appreciation 1 | 3 |
| MUHL 2616 | Survey of Jazz 1 | 3 |
| PHLT 1531 | Fundamentals of Public Health 1 | 3 |
| PHLT 1568 | Healthy Lifestyles 1 | 3 |
| POL 1550 | Introduction to Political Science 1 | 3 |
| RSS 1510A | Advanced College Success Skills 2 | 3 |
| RSS 1510B | Basic College Success Skills 2 | 3 |
| RSS 1510C | STEM Advanced College Success Skills 2 | 4 |
| SOC 1500 | Introduction to Sociology 1 | 3 |
| THTR 1560 | Understanding Theater 1 | 3 |
| THTR 1590 | History of Motion Pictures 1 | 3 |
| TCOM 1595 | Survey of American Mass Communications 1, 4 | 3 |
| Any college-based first year orientation course | ||
| A limited number of additional college-based courses are available with consultation with, and the expressed approval of, the student's college advisor. | ||
| 1 | General Education course |
| 2 | Developmental course |
| 3 | Transfer students only |
| 4 | Second semester or later only |
| 5 | Only if tested or placed into |
Career-Technical Credit Transfer (CT)2/CTAG
As Ohio secondary and adult career-technical students transition to Ohio public institutions of higher education, Career-Technical Credit Transfer (CT)2 facilitates technical course guarantees and supports students to do the following:
- Take equivalent technical courses anywhere within the public educational system.
- Obtain technical credits (upon enrollment in higher education) without unnecessary duplication or institutional barriers.
- Attain their highest educational aspirations in the most efficient and effective manner as a result of clear and consistent standards.
(CT)2 is a collaborative effort among the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the Office of Career Technical Education of the Ohio Department of Education, public secondary/adult career technical education institutions, and state-supported institutions of higher education.
Under the guidance of the (CT)2 Advisory Committee, the new articulation and transfer initiative established criteria, policies, and procedures whereby students are awarded college credit for agreed-upon technical knowledge and skills in equivalent courses/programs that are based on recognized industry standards.
(CT)2 helps more high school and adult career-technical students to go to college and enter with college credit; technical credit saves students money and time; and Ohio business and industry will benefit from more employees with higher education and advanced skills.