The Best Finance Programs in Ohio for 2026

UD's BSBA in Finance runs through the AACSB dual-accredited School of Business Administration, one of fewer than 2% of business schools worldwide accredited in both accounting and business. Students manage part of the university's endowment through the Davis Center for Portfolio Management, which the program describes as running the No. 1 student-run investment portfolio in the country, and evaluate sustainable investments through the Hanley Center for ESG Investing using Bloomberg, FactSet, and Morningstar terminals. The program is a CFA Institute University Affiliation Program member, and coursework runs through Investments I and II into a senior Finance Capstone in Advanced Financial Analysis.

Dayton's Hakia Score of 89.6 rests on an 80% graduation rate and a 65% admit rate. Tuition is flat at $49,140 regardless of residency, well below Case Western's $66,020 but more than triple Miami's in-state rate. UD reports a $64,202 average starting salary for finance majors and a 99% post-graduation success rate for the business school; nationally, financial analysts earn a median $88,870 a year, per the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. With 10,506 students enrolled, the program fits students who want hands-on portfolio management and Bloomberg-terminal experience at a private school without Case Western's 37% admit bar.

Cedarville's BS in Finance, housed in the Robert W. Plaster School of Business, is taught from a biblical worldview and prepares students for roles as financial analysts, financial managers, financial advisors, banking officers and asset managers. Juniors and seniors manage real university endowment money in the Applied Portfolio Management course, and the KeyBank Trading Center gives students a live-ticker floor to practice investment research. Cedarville is an Academic Partner of the CMT Association, aligning coursework with the Chartered Market Technician program, and the degree is offered both residentially and fully online with six start dates a year. Recent graduates have placed at Accenture, Edward Jones, JPMorgan Chase and Cincinnati Insurance, with others going on to Harvard, the University of Michigan and the University of Rochester.

The numbers back the pitch: 73% of Cedarville students graduate, the school admits 65% of applicants, and tuition runs a flat $36,950 a year, the same for in-state and out-of-state students since Cedarville is private. Cedarville carries a Hakia Score of 85.6, good for 5th among Ohio finance programs, a ranking built on outcomes, cost and access rather than any single metric. It fits a student who wants small-class mentoring and hands-on portfolio management inside a faith-based mission, over the scale of a large public research university. Nationally, the BLS Occupational Outlook tracks financial analyst as a growth field every finance grad in the state, public or private, is measured against.

ONU's Finance major is a BSBA in the College of Business Administration built around core topics including the time value of money, the risk-return tradeoff, capital budgeting, working capital management, cost of capital, capital structure, mergers and acquisitions, portfolio management and derivatives. Every student is assigned a faculty advisor at the start of the program who mentors through graduation, and ONU's small class sizes put students in direct contact with business leaders, entrepreneurs and alumni working in finance. Students can pair the major with a minor or a second major to broaden the credential.

ONU graduates 75% of its students and admits 74% of applicants, the most accessible admit rate among Ohio's top private finance programs. Tuition is a flat $38,250 a year, identical for in-state and out-of-state students. With a Hakia Score of 84.4, ONU ranks 6th on this list, a composite of outcomes, cost and access. It suits a student who wants a low-selectivity entry point paired with close, one-on-one faculty mentoring rather than a large lecture-hall program. Financial analyst roles nationally carry a median pay tracked by the BLS Occupational Outlook, the same benchmark ONU grads compete against.

UC's Lindner College of Business offers the Finance BBA with two named tracks alongside the standard major: a Financial Planning BBA aimed at the CFP path, and an Analytic Finance Academy BBA for quantitatively focused students. The curriculum draws on economics for theory, accounting for the information base, and quantitative analysis for the analytical work. Under Lindner's Universal Co-operative Education requirement, every incoming first-year student completes two paid co-op rotations before graduating, landing real-world assignments in corporate finance (credit analyst, treasury analyst, capital budgeting analyst), investments (securities analyst, investment banker, portfolio manager) or financial institutions (branch manager, bank examiner, loan officer).

UC admits 85% of applicants, the most open of Ohio's top finance programs, and graduates 75%. In-state tuition is $11,685 a year; out-of-state runs $27,019, a gap that matters for anyone weighing residency before enrolling. At a Hakia Score of 84, UC ranks 7th, trading some selectivity for the lowest in-state cost on this list, a fully online option, and scale (enrollment 45,026). It's the pick for an in-state student who wants required paid co-op experience and price over a small-campus feel. National financial analyst pay is tracked by the BLS Occupational Outlook.

Franciscan's Finance bachelor's degree sits in the Department of Accounting, Business Administration and Economics and is accredited by the IACBE. The curriculum is shaped by a Business Advisory Board that includes executives from Bayer, Honeywell, Microsoft and Protiviti, and it blends business, law, economics, statistics, ethics and strategy with a Catholic liberal arts core. Students can study abroad for a semester at Franciscan's Austria campus in Gaming, and the program targets job titles including credit manager, financial analyst, investment banker, portfolio manager and risk manager. Finance majors can continue directly into Franciscan's own MS in Finance or MBA.

Franciscan admits 58% of applicants, the tightest admit rate among Ohio's top finance programs, and graduates 75% of its students. Tuition is a flat $33,500 a year, the lowest sticker price among the private schools on this list and identical for in-state and out-of-state students. With a Hakia Score of 82.4, Franciscan ranks 8th, a composite built on outcomes, cost and access. It fits a student who wants a selective, mission-driven business program with executive input on the curriculum, at a lower flat price than Cedarville or ONU. National financial analyst pay is tracked by the BLS Occupational Outlook.

Based in University Heights, OH, John Carroll University is a private, nonprofit institution. Its Bachelor's in Finance program lands at #9 of the 12 ranked here, earning an 81.4 Hakia Score that weighs graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. That sits below the 85 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 79% of its students, above the 76% average across the ranked schools. John Carroll University admits 81% of applicants, less selective than the 69% average for the group. That is more open than the 37% rate at Case Western Reserve University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands among the strongest in a group where graduation runs from 59% to 88%.

On cost, John Carroll University charges $48,700 a year in-state. Over four years that totals about $194,800 in tuition. That puts it at the higher end on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $11,685 at University of Cincinnati-Main Campus to $66,020 at Case Western Reserve University. As a private institution, its tuition does not change with residency, unlike the public universities on this list. Graduates step into a field with an $88,870 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its above-average completion.

Based in University Heights, OH, John Carroll University is a private, nonprofit institution. Its Bachelor's in Finance program lands at #10 of the 12 ranked here, earning a 78.8 Hakia Score that weighs graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. That sits below the 85 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 79% of its students, above the 76% average across the ranked schools. John Carroll University admits 81% of applicants, less selective than the 69% average for the group. That is more open than the 37% rate at Case Western Reserve University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands among the strongest in a group where graduation runs from 59% to 88%.

On cost, John Carroll University charges $48,700 a year in-state. Over four years that totals about $194,800 in tuition. That puts it at the higher end on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $11,685 at University of Cincinnati-Main Campus to $66,020 at Case Western Reserve University. As a private institution, its tuition does not change with residency, unlike the public universities on this list. Graduates step into a field with an $88,870 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its above-average completion.

Based in Athens, OH, Ohio University-Main Campus is a public institution. Its Bachelor's in Finance program lands at #11 of the 12 ranked here, earning a 78.4 Hakia Score that weighs graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. That sits below the 85 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 65% of its students, below the 76% average across the ranked schools. Ohio University-Main Campus admits 85% of applicants, less selective than the 69% average for the group. That is more open than the 37% rate at Case Western Reserve University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 59% to 88%.

On cost, Ohio University-Main Campus charges $14,158 a year in-state, versus $24,838 for out-of-state students. Over four years that is about $56,632 in tuition for residents, against $99,352 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $11,685 at University of Cincinnati-Main Campus to $66,020 at Case Western Reserve University. Graduates step into a field with an $88,870 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with an online option.

Ohio Wesleyan University is a private, nonprofit institution in Delaware, OH. Its Bachelor's in Finance program ranks #12 of the 12 analyzed here with a 78.0 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 85 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 59% of its students, below the 76% average across the ranked schools. Ohio Wesleyan University admits 56% of applicants, more selective than the 69% average for the group. That is more open than the 37% rate at Case Western Reserve University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 59% to 88%.

On cost, Ohio Wesleyan University charges $53,624 a year in-state. Over four years that totals about $214,496 in tuition. That puts it at the higher end on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $11,685 at University of Cincinnati-Main Campus to $66,020 at Case Western Reserve University. As a private institution, its tuition does not change with residency, unlike the public universities on this list. Graduates step into a field with an $88,870 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its genuine selectivity.