More than a Midwest school: Miami attracts students from across the nation

Miami University brings together students from all different backgrounds. For some, it’s a 45-minute drive from home; for others, it’s a six-hour plane ride. Regardless of the distance, many students come to see Miami as their home away from home.

This year, Miami welcomed the more than 4,000 students in this year’s freshman class. Thirty-four percent of those students are not from Ohio.

“Miami is a national institution, it’s nationally and globally known,” said Assistant Vice President of Admissions Bethany Perkins. “We have a lot of students who are coming from each of the coasts, as well as from the Midwest.”

While academics at Miami motivate many incoming students to join the community, there are several other incentives that inspire non-Ohio students to enroll.

“We should be really grateful for how strong athletics are,” Perkins said. “The news that our basketball team made, and also that our fans made, really made a difference. It put Miami on the map … for maybe some students and families who hadn’t necessarily heard of Miami.”

Beyond the press, financial scholarships can change the game for many out-of-state students looking to attend Miami.

“Scholarships are certainly one of the factors students consider when deciding to enroll, particularly as the overall cost of attendance differs between in-state and out-of-state students,” said Senior Director of the Office of Student Financial Assistance Beth Johnson.

Just as the college experience varies between in-state and out-of-state students, the scholarships they are offered vary as well.

“Miami has different types of institutional aid, including merit scholarships, need-based grants, donor-funded scholarships, and each has its own eligibility criteria,” Johnson said.

So while it may seem like students receive more in terms of scholarships, it’s balanced out by tuition, need and merit.

Beyond scholarships, Miami also works to connect with prospective students outside of Ohio through targeted outreach efforts. Miami has several territory managers who create relationships with high school counselors and community organizations that work with students.

“They travel to high schools and college fairs and do panel presentations, just like our Ohio-based representatives do,” Perkins said.

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For some students, the first introduction to Miami doesn’t come from a high school visit or college fair, but from their own online searches.

“I found [Miami] on a list of top 50 or top 25 schools for game design majors,” said senior games and simulation major Reese Hausman. “I came and visited [Miami], along with a couple other schools, and I just really liked the vibes.”

Reaching out-of-state students is only the beginning of the process. Once these students arrive at Miami, their experience can look a lot different from that of students who call Ohio home.

“I don’t know that much about other things to do,” Hausman said. “I kind of rely on people who are from here to show me cool places outside of Oxford for day trips and stuff like that.”

For students who live farther from Oxford, exploring the area can also be a necessity, as going home for the weekend is not always an option.

“I can’t really relate to the people who are going home a lot,” Hausman said. “I kind of only go home maybe once or twice a semester for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

The distance from home can be difficult, but for Hausman, the distance has also become an important part of learning to navigate college life on her own.

“Having the distance is kind of nice in some ways because I am very much on my own,” Hausman said. “It probably has helped me grow a little bit to be even more responsible for myself.”

terlessk@miamioh.edu