History of Ohio Wesleyan University - Today

Today

The Conrades-Wetherell Science Center opened in 2004 to provide 52,000 square feet (4,800 m2) of additional space for the science departments. An athletic fundraising campaign began in 2005.

Between 1996-2001 fiscal years, Ohio Wesleyan increased its expenditures per student by 23%, while the average increase over the same period for top tier liberal arts colleges was 17%. Economist Robert Lenke argued that this increase in spending per student contributed to an increase in the school's PhD creation rate, a rate that captures the number of students that obtained baccalaureates at Ohio Wesleyan and eventually earned a doctorate at another institution. During the same time period, the PhD creation rate for Ohio Wesleyan graduates increased from 3.8 to 5.3. Biological science and Social science graduates of the college receive doctorates at disproportionately higher rates than graduates in other academic fields.

Both academic and athletic achievements have marked Ohio Wesleyan's recent history. In mathematics, OWU's team has finished first five out of the last ten years at the Ohio Five mathematics contest. In the athletics world, the Battling Bishops have captured four NCAA Division III national championships in soccer and basketball in the last two decades.

Today, OWU maintains a loose, mainly historic, affiliation with the United Methodist Church.