Columbus, OH · Public · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Ohio State University-Main Campus
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$71,621
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $4,600.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Ohio State, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Ohio State
| Full price, in state | $31,605 |
| Full price, out of state | $62,732 |
| After grants, at your income | $17,857 |
At this income, 2 of Ohio's other 38 colleges cost less after grants, and 36 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. In state: Ohio State's President's Ohio Scholarship is for an Ohio student with a perfect ACT or SAT score. It pays the full cost of attendance and adds a $5,000 enrichment award (and 2 more below).
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Ohio State, our scenarios for Ohio households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $7,100 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Ohio State University-Main Campus says it awards for grades and test scores.
In state: Ohio State's President's Ohio Scholarship is for an Ohio student with a perfect ACT or SAT score. It pays the full cost of attendance and adds a $5,000 enrichment award.
Ohio State's Maximus, Provost and Trustees Scholarships pay $1,000 to $3,000 a year to highly competitive students, whether or not they live in Ohio.
Out of state: Ohio State's National Buckeye Scholarship pays up to $13,500 a year to highly competitive students from outside Ohio. Applying by November 1 is the only step.
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Ohio State reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price. Out of state, there are no grants: the price is before any scholarship from the college.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit. For a family that lives in Ohio, it also counts Ohio's tax deduction for money you put through its 529 plan.
The $7,100 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Ohio State's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Ohio, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Ohio State at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Ohio State University-Main Campus's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 3.0% a year. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The out-of-state figure uses the published out-of-state tuition instead. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
Ohio State University-Main Campus fixes tuition, mandatory fees, housing and dining for four years for every class that starts in fall 2017 or later, under its Tuition Guarantee. For students who start in fall 2027, our four-year figures keep that flat and let the rest of the cost rise.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ohio State University-Main Campus. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Miami University-Hamilton$13,260 a year
- Wright State University$16,975 a year
- Ohio State$17,857 a year
- Bowling Green State University$18,231 a year
- Cleveland State University$18,285 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Ohio college →