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 cumulative high school grade point average of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) or higher, a core grade point average* of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) or higher and have an ACT composite score of 17 or higher, or a combined SAT score of 920 or higher from the evidence-base writing and reading test, and the math test to be admitted unconditionally. (*Core gpa is calculated based on grades earned in the following courses - English, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language, if applicable, from 9th through 12th grade.)
A test-optional admissions policy was implemented for Fall 2020 through Spring 2023 semester. For more information regarding the test-optional admissions policy, please visit the Admissions web site.
For more information, visit the Ohio Department of Higher Education Career-Technical Credit Transfer (CT)2 Verification of Course/Program Completion Form webpage.
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 bi-lateral agreement between Youngstown State University and a particular career center or high school, students may earn college credit for specified technical 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 northeast Ohio. Students in those approved 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. Students have 18 months from high school graduation to apply for the 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
In certain situations, students with a high school GPA and/or ACT/SAT scores that do not meet the requirements for admission to YSU may be offered conditional admission.
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.
Students entering Distance Learning Programs will not be considered for conditional admission status.
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.
Strong Start
Incoming first-time students with a cumulative high school grade point average and core grade point average of a 2.00 (out of 4.00) or higher but have a composite ACT below 17 (or SAT evidence based writing and reading and math composite below 920), will be reviewed for possible admission to YSU through the Strong Start Program.
Students offered admission to YSU through the Strong Start Program:
- may only begin in the fall semester.
- are required to attend new student orientation; failure to do so will defer admittance to a subsequent fall semester.
- will be classified as an Exploring Undecided major during their first year, at the end of which they may declare a major.
- Must earn a C or better in their Strong Start Success Seminar
- Must achieve good academic standing (a GPA of 2.00 or above) at the end of their first semester. Students who do not earn at last a 2.0 shall be dismissed from the university.
Transfer Students
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.
Conditionally admitted transfer students must meet the following requirements:
- Conditionally admitted transfer 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 transfer students are required to attend new student orientation; failure to do so will defer admittance to a subsequent semester. Transfer students may meet this requirement by attending a regular or transfer orientation or by completing the online orientation module for transfer students.
- Conditionally admitted transfer students shall be classified as having an undetermined major (BCLASSE, BCHHS), a pre-major (STEM, CCCA) 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 transfer students must fulfill a contract with the Resch Academic Success Center, which includes meeting weekly with their academic coach and two times during the term with their academic advisor.
- Conditionally admitted transfer students cannot register for more than 14 semester hours of courses in a single semester.
- Students placing into RSS 1510A Advanced College Success Skills, ENGL 1541 Fundamentals of College Writing or ENGL 1549 Writing 1 with Support 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 transfer students are restricted to an approved list of courses (see course listing below).
- All conditionally admitted transfer students are to be advised by their college’s professional advisors and not by faculty or departmental advisors.
- Conditionally admitted transfer students must receive approval of their course schedule by a college academic advisor and may not make further changes without approval of the advisor.
- 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 transfer 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. ENGL 1541 Introduction to College Writing 3 RSS 1510A Advanced College Success Skills 3 - 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.
Students without an ACT/SAT score or HS GPA
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. A student who earns a score of less than 232 on the reading placement test will remain conditionally admitted. If a student places into ENGL 1541, the student will also remain conditionally admitted. If a student scores 232 or above and tests out of ENGL 1541, the conditionally admitted status is removed.
Students with an ACT or SAT score cannot test out of conditional status.
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 1550 | Writing 1 1, 5 | 3 |
| ENGL 1541 | Introduction to College Writing 2 | 3 |
| ENGL 1549 | Writing 1 with Support | 4 |
| 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 |
| HIST 1501 | American Dreams: Introduction to United States History 1 | 3 |
| KSS 1500 | Physical Activity Core Concepts | 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 | ||
| Volleyball 2 | ||
| Archery | ||
| Badminton | ||
| Bowling | ||
| Bowling 2 | ||
| Fencing 1 | ||
| Fencing 2 | ||
| Racquetball | ||
| Golf 1 | ||
| Golf 2 | ||
| Tennis 1 | ||
| Tennis 2 | ||
| Physical Fitness and Exercise Program | ||
| Marksmanship | ||
| Advanced Physical Fitness and Exercise Programs | ||
| Recreational Games | ||
| Learn to Swim | ||
| Aquatics 2 | ||
| Aquatic Exercise | ||
| Step Aerobics | ||
| Fold and Square Dance | ||
| Aerobic Dance | ||
| Fitness Walking | ||
| Jogging | ||
| Racquetball 2 | ||
| Weight Training | ||
| Bicycling | ||
| Self Defense | ||
| Judo | ||
| Taekwondo/Karate | ||
| Camping | ||
| MATH 1513 | Algebra and Transcendental Function 3 | 5 |
| MATH 1500 | Mathematics Preparation for Algebra Placement | 2 |
| MATH 1510 | College Algebra 4 | 4 |
| MATH 1510C | College Algebra with Co-requisite Support | 6 |
| MATH 2623C | Quantitative Reasoning with Co-Requisite Support | 5 |
| STAT 2625 | Statistical Literacy and Critical Reasoning 4 | 4 |
| STAT 2625C | Statistical Literacy and Critical Reasoning with Co-Requisite Support | 6 |
| 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 1510C | STEM Advanced College Success Skills 2 | 4 |
| SOC 1500 | Introduction to Sociology 1 | 3 |
| THTR 1560 | Introduction to Theatre 1 | 3 |
| THTR 1590 | History of Motion Pictures 1 | 3 |
| TCOM 1595 | Media Literacy and Culture 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
Secondary or adult students who successfully complete specified technical programs are eligible to have technical credit transfer to public colleges and universities. This transfer of credit is described in Career-Technical Assurance Guides (CTAG). Students are guaranteed the transfer of applicable credits among Ohio's public colleges and universities and equitable treatment in the application of credits to admissions and degree requirements. (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.
The language in section 3333.162 of the Ohio Revised Code requires the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the Ohio Department of Education to develop policies and procedures ensuring that students at an adult career-technical education institution or secondary career-technical education institution can transfer agreed upon technical courses completed there (that adhere to recognized industry standards) to any public institution of higher education "without unnecessary duplication or institutional barriers."
To access credit, students will need to request a CTAG Verification Form be sent by the career-institution from which they attended/graduated, to the YSU Office of College Tech Prep and Special Projects. Students have three years from high school graduation to apply for credit. For more information on how to access (CT)² credit visit the Ohio Department of Higher Education Career-Technical Credit Transfer (CT)2 Verification of Course/Program Completion Form webpage.