“Ohio's leading public research university in fashion, aeronautics, and architecture — shaped by a global campus of 100 nationalities.”
Kent State University is a public research university based in Kent, Ohio, anchoring an eight-campus system that enrolls approximately 33,000 students across the state, with roughly 26,000 at the flagship Kent Campus. Classified by Carnegie as a Research 1 (Very High Research Activity) institution, Kent State has built a national reputation in disciplines where applied creativity meets professional practice — most visibly in its top-ten-ranked School of Fashion, the College of Architecture & Environmental Design, and the College of Aeronautics and Engineering, which runs Ohio's largest FAA-approved flight-training program. U.S. News ranks Kent State as the highest-ranked public institution in northern Ohio. Students choose from more than 300 undergraduate majors and concentrations across twelve degree-granting colleges, including the College of Business Administration (Ambassador Crawford College), the College of Communication and Information, the College of Nursing (a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence with 12,000+ alumni worldwide), the College of Public Health, the College of the Arts, and the College of Arts & Sciences. The university carries a strong identity as a place where professional preparation and creative freedom coexist, supported by research strengths in liquid crystals (Kent invented the technology behind LCD displays), health sciences, psychology, and digital sciences. The 890-acre main campus features historic red-brick classroom buildings, a new Crawford Hall business complex, a student center, and more than 250 student organizations. Kent State is a significant destination for international students, with roughly 2,170 enrolled from 100 countries (about 8% of the Kent Campus population). India is the largest contributor, followed by strong cohorts from China, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Brazil. The Office of Global Education provides dedicated advising, F-1 visa processing, English-language support, and pre-arrival services, while the Kent city region — midway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh — offers a lower cost of living than most US coastal cities, plus co-op and OPT employment pipelines into Ohio's aerospace, fashion-retail, polymer, and biomedical industries.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Fashion Design
Fashionista / Runway 2024 (top 10 US)
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceThe deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Domestic
$12,356 – $13,500
/yr
Out-of-State / Intl
$24,300 – $24,800
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Home to Kent State's globally recognized Fashion program — one of only five Fashion Design majors in Ohio and a perennial top-ten US fashion school — plus art, theatre, dance, and music.
Ohio's largest flight school and a growing applied-engineering college with programs in aerospace engineering, aeronautics, robotics, cybersecurity engineering, and mechatronics.
Offers BS, M.Arch, and dual-degree programs in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban design — with studios in both Kent and Cleveland.
One of the largest and most comprehensive nursing programs in the nation; an NLN Center of Excellence with 12,000+ alumni worldwide.
AACSB-accredited college emphasizing entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and analytics — housed in the new Crawford Hall complex.
4 years
A consistently top-ten US fashion program with studios in Kent, a NYC Studio semester, and a Florence study-abroad campus. Alumni dominate design roles at major US fashion houses.
4 years
ABET-accredited, STEM-designated degree paired with on-campus flight training; graduates feed into aerospace, defense, and airline sectors.
5 years
NAAB-accredited integrated-path architecture degree with the option to spend a semester at the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) or in Florence, Italy.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $23,082
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
