.jpg){kind=link}
The story
History
Public higher education in Cleveland was first started in 1870, when Cleveland YMCA began to offer free classes. By 1921, the program had grown enough to become separate from YMCA, being renamed Cleveland YMCA School of Technology. Two years later, the school offered courses towards a bachelor's degree in business and engineering for the first time. This is now regarded as Fenn College's founding date, although the college would not be formally renamed until 1929. Fenn College took over several buildings in the area including Fenn Tower, Stilwell Hall, and Foster Hall.
In 1964, the State of Ohio purchased the entirety of Fenn College's campus in downtown Cleveland and established a commuter college that targeted area residents. This new institution became known as Cleveland State University. The university consisted of the Fenn College of Engineering (now the Washkewicz College of Engineering), the colleges of business administration, arts and sciences and education. Industrialist James J. Nance served as Chair of the first Board of Trustees.
Over the next several decades, Cleveland State University quickly grew in size and claimed over 15,000 students in 1997. However, only six hundred students resided in university housing. In the mid-2000s, President Michael Schwartz ended open admissions and implemented a vision to move from a U.S. News & World Report fourth-tier university to a second-tier university. The university entered into a partnership with Northeast Ohio Medical University in 2008.
In 2012, CSU opened the Galleries at CSU on Euclid Avenue. Also in 2012, Cleveland State University partnered with the South China University of Technology allowing students to complete their education and receive joint degrees. In 2018, CSU established the CSU School of Film & Media Arts, having used a $7.5 million appropriation from the State of Ohio to renovate an entire floor of the IdeaStream Center at Playhouse Square. It is the first standalone film school in Ohio.
On March 11, 2020, an email was sent to Cleveland State students regarding the changes made due to the coronavirus pandemic. Classes were all switched to remote learning.
In fall 2020, students returned to campus with safety precautions in place. CSU continues to offer robust hybrid and remote learning opportunities.
CSU celebrated a major milestone in 2014, marking its 50th anniversary, and in 2024, celebrated its 60th anniversary and invited all members of the CSU community to contribute items to a special time capsule project.
In 2025, CSU launched a new vision for Cleveland’s public research university, known as Cleveland State United. Through an inclusive process that included ideas and feedback from current students, faculty and staff members, alumni, trustees and community partners, Cleveland State University created a set of mission, vision and value statements that reflect CSU’s strengths and aspirations.
Read the full text
Information technology
CSU is a member of the OneCommunity (formerly OneCleveland) computer network, an initiative of Case Western Reserve University that connects nonprofit institutions throughout Northeast Ohio, allowing large scale collaborations over a high-speed fiber optic network.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cleveland State University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4