Mission Statement
The Center for International Programs and Activities (CIPA) has a mission to provide Shawnee State University’s students and its community with opportunities to appreciate different values and cultures around the world. These experiences prepare students for the increasingly global nature of society, encourage their understanding of other people, and enable them to contribute to the well-being of our world community.

Shawnee State University welcomes students from all cultures.
CIPA is designed to help our international students fully participate in their college experience. The CIPA Director Ryan Warner coordinates campus services and programming which enhance our international students' social and academic success. Working in conjunction with various campus offices, CIPA assures that our international students find individual attention specific to their concerns and to their own life, education, and career goals.

On behalf of Shawnee State University, the Center for International Programs and Activities and Director Ryan Warner, CIPA fosters and promotes international understanding and global perspective to the university community and the region served by Shawnee State.

The Rose L. and Augusta Jacobs Center for International Programs and Activities – located on the east side of campus on Second Street one block from Shawnee State University’s West Parking Lot on the corner of Second and Union streets, next door to The Children’s Learning Center.

Shawnee State Ranked Among US News & World Report's 2021 Best Colleges

Shawnee State University has been ranked among the best colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for the second year in a row.

“Shawnee State’s nationally-ranked academic programs, particularly those in game design, plastics engineering technology, and health professions, set us — and our graduates — apart,” SSU President Jeff Bauer said. “So does our commitment to access and student success.”

Shawnee State ranked #39-51 in Top Public Schools in Regional Universities Midwest on the U.S. News & World Report ranking for 2021.

SSU came in at #119-#156 overall in Regional Universities Midwest. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence including academic quality, graduation and retention rates, student-to-faculty ratio, social mobility, affordability, faculty resources, alumni giving, and graduate indebtedness.

Rankings for the Regional Universities category are for colleges that offer a full range of undergraduate programs, some master’s programs but few doctoral programs. These rankings are split into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West.

“We have billboards in the region telling our local students to ‘stay home and go far,’” SSU President Jeff Bauer, said. “That’s more than a slogan — and it’s a message that extends to students who come to us from every county in Ohio, throughout Kentucky and West Virginia, and from all over the nation and world. Our students are graduating with degrees that will take them anywhere they want to go in their careers.”

Bauer said that Shawnee State serves a unique mission of open access and a focus on student success. Delivering on that mission helped SSU earn the #150 rank in Top Performers on Social Mobility in the 2021 U.S. New & World Report ranking.

Rankings in this category encompassed economically disadvantaged students who are less likely than others to finish college, yet these colleges are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students eligible for federal Pell Grants, which are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000.

“This particular ranking gets to the heart of who we are and the true value of a Shawnee State degree. By offering nationally recognized programs, low tuition rates, and student support services, we are making college possible for more students — and we’re changing lives.”

In the Graduate School category, Shawnee State ranked #185 in Occupational Therapy.

“We have a long-standing tradition of excellence in our health-related degrees, particularly occupational therapy,” Bauer said. “Our graduates are in demand and most often have jobs waiting for them before they graduate.”

Shawnee State offers several degrees in occupational therapy including a two-year associate’s degree that prepares graduates for careers as occupational therapy assistants; the master’s degree that is also offered as a compressed 3+2 degree for incoming freshman who want to prepare for a career as an occupational therapist in five years; and a new post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy designed for therapists interested in advancing their careers.

U.S. News & World Report profiled over 1,400 schools as part of the Best Colleges rankings and evaluated each on 17 indicators of academic quality.