Welcome Back, Students: Steubenville’s College Community Is Growing
At a time when many colleges across the country are struggling with enrollment pressures, Steubenville is moving in the other direction. Private four-year colleges nationally saw undergraduate enrollment decline 1.6 percent last fall. Here at home, Franciscan University has reached record enrollment, the College of St. Joseph the Worker has nearly tripled in size in two years, and Youngstown State University has opened its new Steubenville campus.
So, to the returning students at Franciscan University and the College of St. Joseph the Worker, and to the first class of YSU Penguins studying in Steubenville, the Downtown Steubenville Business Association says: Welcome to Steubenville. We’re glad you’re here, and we hope to see you downtown.
Franciscan University Reaches Record Enrollment
Franciscan University begins the 2026–27 academic year with 4,253 students, the largest enrollment in University history. This fall’s class includes 781 new undergraduate students and 334 new graduate and doctoral students. The University also reached approximately 40,000 young people through its summer conference program this year.
The growth comes with increasing national recognition. Franciscan is now ranked No. 25 among Regional Universities in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report, making it one of the top five Ohio universities in that category.
Read the Herald-Star’s report on Franciscan’s 2026 enrollment
St. Joseph the Worker Tops 90 Students
The College of St. Joseph the Worker is experiencing even faster growth in the heart of downtown. The College opened in Fall 2024 with just 31 students. Its student body doubled during its second year, and with more than 30 additional students arriving this fall, enrollment now tops 90 students. In only two years, the College has roughly tripled in size.
St. Joseph’s unusual model combines a Bachelor of Arts in Catholic Studies with intensive training and apprenticeship in skilled trades. The College reports the highest average standardized-test score of any Newman Guide school, won a 2026 Heritage Foundation Innovation Prize, and says it will operate the largest single-location apprenticeship program in the United States this year.
Its impact is also particularly visible downtown, where students live, study, work and patronize local businesses—and where the College continues to renovate buildings and invest in its growing urban campus.
College of St. Joseph the Worker: 2025–26 Year in Review
YSU-Steubenville Opens With 91 Students
Fall 2026 also marks the beginning of Youngstown State University–Steubenville, which opened its first semester with 91 students across 12 academic programs. The campus restores a public higher-education presence to the former Eastern Gateway property and creates new local pathways in fields ranging from health care and information technology to business, education and engineering technology.
YSU also earned the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification in 2026, a national recognition of universities with deep and sustained partnerships with the communities they serve.
