Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. It comprises colleges of business administration; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; liberal arts and social sciences; education; fine and performing arts; and health and human services. Through the School of Graduate Studies and Research, the university offers a range of master’s degree and doctorate programs. Research facilities include the Center of Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering and the Center for Urban and Regional Studies.

The university traces its beginnings to a course in commercial law offered by the YMCA in 1908. By 1916 the YMCA, which was also offering courses in business and engineering, incorporated all of its educational offerings as the Youngstown Association School. It became the Youngstown Institute of Technology in 1921, when it began offering liberal arts courses. The institute formed the College of Arts and Sciences in 1927 and the next year changed its name to Youngstown College. It was made a university in 1955. It came under state control in 1967 and changed to its present name. With Kent State University and the University of Akron, it created a consortium to sponsor the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, which opened in 1975. Notable alumni include astronomer Thomas Bopp and actor Ed O’Neill.