WalletHub: Ohio’s community colleges among the nation’s worst

Policymakers love to tout Ohio’s educational opportunities, but a new survey found that the state’s network of community colleges is among the worst in the country.

Ohio’s system ranked 40th out of the 41 systems that WalletHub included in its new “2025’s Best & Worst Community Colleges” report.

“Ohio ranks near the bottom of the rankings for community college systems, at 40th in the nation,” Chip Lupo, a WalletHub writer and analyst, told Ohio.news via email. “This is despite community colleges being one of the most cost-effective gateways to higher education, especially during times of high inflation.”

The analysis looked at a dozen Buckeye State community Colleges. According to the analysis, only Alabama’s community college network ranked worse than Ohio’s system.

“While Ohio’s tuition levels are competitive, the data show weaker graduation and transfer rates, lower proportions of students earning above high school graduate wages, and less robust post-graduation outcomes compared to top-performing states like Maryland, New Mexico, and Wisconsin,” Lupo said.

“Other states have boosted performance by combining affordability with free-tuition’ College Promise’ programs, stronger faculty-to-student ratios, credit-for-life-experience policies, and high-impact partnerships with employers to align coursework with well-paying jobs,” Lupo added. “These approaches appear to be either lacking or underdeveloped in Ohio.”

Overall, WalletHub concluded that Maryland, a state that offers free community college education, has the best community colleges. Five Maryland schools ranked among the top 40 community colleges nationwide, according to the personal finance site’s analysis.

Montgomery College, which has several campuses in Montgomery County, is ranked as the Old Line State’s top community college. Nationally, the school ranks as the 17th best community college.

The WalletHub analysis concluded the school stands out “due to high median salaries for graduates, good student retention rates and the fact that it offers credit for life experiences.”

In Ohio, Lakeland Community College ranked as the top community college, while Eastern Gateway Community College ranked 12th out of the 12 schools examined.

“For policymakers, the path forward is to shift from focusing mainly on low tuition to outcome-driven investment,” Lupo said. “This means tying funding to completion, employment, and wage growth; strengthening academic and career advising; and building seamless credit-transfer systems to four-year institutions, particularly in-state colleges and universities.”

Lupo continued: “For taxpayers, the takeaway is that their dollars should yield not just accessible education, but measurable returns in workforce readiness and upward mobility. Taxpayers can push for transparency in college performance metrics and for the state to adopt proven strategies from higher-ranked states.”

Workforce development has been a hot-button issue in Ohio, as it is in states nationwide, and Republican Lt. Governor Jim Tressel is spearheading an effort to develop a new playbook so the state’s workforce can fill open jobs. By examining Ohio’s various regions, the state plans to retain existing talent, recruit new talent to Ohio, and increase the state’s workforce productivity.

“As we prepare our young people to lead the future of our state, it’s important that we have all the right players at the table,” Tressel said in a June release.

“It takes real collaboration so that education leaders understand what’s happening inside the business down the street or across the county,” the state’s second-highest-ranking elected official said. “You can’t anticipate the skills your students will need without learning directly from industry how the landscape is evolving.”

However, the WalletHub team said that while the state’s community colleges are affordable, it won’t be worth the spend if state officials don’t increase the value they provide.

“In short, Ohio’s affordability advantage is real, but without stronger student success outcomes and workforce integration, it risks remaining a low-value bargain instead of a high-impact investment,” Lupo said.