Our Students

YSU Student Success

"Nothing short of remarkable"

In the media, it’s known as a slow news week – a stretch of days where there’s not much going on and you have to go out and scratch up a story.

When it comes to student success here at YSU, a slow news week is…nonexistent.

Take, for instance, this one particular week earlier this spring:

• YSU’s concrete canoe team – yes, that’s right, they build and float a canoe made out of concrete! – wins the Ohio Valley Student Conference competition and qualifies for the national championship.
• Not to be outdone, the Penguin Steel Bridge team designs, builds and tests a mini steel bridge that also captures the top prize at the regional competition.
• Across campus, graduates of the School Psychology program post a perfect 100 percent first-time pass rate on the national Praxis II Exam - for the seventh straight year!
• And, in a mathematical modeling competition involving 25,000 teams from around the world, a group of YSU students earn Meritorious status, placing among the top 8 percent on Earth.

A slow news week, that ain’t!

Those are among the dozens upon dozens of recent stories reflecting the continued hard work, talent, successes and smarts of YSU students across all disciplines on campus.

“The academic achievements of our students, particularly when they go head-to-head against students from other universities, is nothing short of remarkable,” said Brien Smith, YSU provost. “The accomplishments are even more noteworthy given the challenges of the pandemic over the past several months.”

You can read more about many of those accomplishments on the YSU News Center or the YSU Merit Page. But, to make it easier, here’s some additional highlights:

• Student Emily Henline is named a Fulbright Scholar, one of the most widely recognized and prestigious scholarships in the world. Read More.
• The YSU Student Investment Fund, one of the largest student-managed funds in the nation, places second in the Global Asset Management Education Forum. The fund has outperformed the S&P 500 Index in eight out of the last nine years. Read More.
• Three international students vie for the Hult Prize - known as the Nobel Peace Prize for college students – for their proposal to help malnutrition and food insecurity in rural Africa. Read More.
• YSU’s student newspaper, The Jambar, earns 10 national awards from the Society of Collegiate Journalists and also 10 statewide awards, including the top prize for coverage of COVID-19. Read More.
• Samantha Sloan,

  an Art Education and Political Science double-major, 

  wins the international Gilman Scholarship to study in Finland, the 27th YSU student to earn the prestigious award in the last nine years. Read More.
• Not only does the Penguin bowling team make it to the NCAA Final Four tournament in only the program’s fifth year, all eight members of the squad are named to the Southland Bowling League's 2021 Academic Honor Roll. Read More.

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