by our College Data Analytics TeamOtterbein University is a private not-for-profit institution in Westerville, Ohio enrolling 2,157 undergraduates. It accepts 84% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 68%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #768 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 15%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Otterbein University ranks #768 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 15%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Otterbein University was awarded 10 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Otterbein as #768 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Otterbein holds the #18 spot on the Best Colleges in Ohio ranking.
See all of the rankings for Otterbein University.
Otterbein University has an acceptance rate of 84%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
Otterbein received ACT scores from 25% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 22 and 28.
Learn more about Otterbein University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Otterbein is an impressive 12 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Otterbein University is 45%. This is comparable to the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 80% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Otterbein University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Otterbein the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 68%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Otterbein University.
In the current academic year, there are 2,157 undergraduates at Otterbein.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Otterbein University.
The typical net cost at Otterbein is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,458 | $12,659 | $16,478 | $23,061 | $24,620 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Otterbein, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 53% of students took out student loans averaging $6,570 a year. That adds up to $26,280 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 3.4%. 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. Get more details about paying for Otterbein University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein University make about $53,313 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at Otterbein University make the most money.
Otterbein University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Westerville, Ohio. Westerville is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center. Get more details about the location of Otterbein University.
Contact details for Otterbein University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1 South Grove Street, Westerville, OH 43081 |
| Phone: | 6148903000 |
| Website: | www.otterbein.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterbein_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/pages/Otterbein-University/154106131291768 |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/otterbein |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 22 majors graduated from Otterbein University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 652 | NA |
| Nursing | 90 | $61,495 |
| Business Administration & Management | 58 | $38,332 |
| General Biology | 40 | NA |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 31 | $34,439 |
| Health & Physical Education | 30 | $33,872 |
| General Psychology | 29 | $30,081 |
| Wildlife Management | 28 | $26,871 |
| Health Sciences & Services | 27 | NA |
| Biochemistry & Biophysics | 24 | NA |
307 students took at least one online class at Otterbein University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Otterbein University.
Curious how schools stack up against Otterbein? Pit them head to head with College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*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.
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