In response to the continuing growth of the bioscience industry in Ohio, Youngstown State University is launching a new bachelor of science degree in Biochemistry. “This new bachelor’s program provides our students with educational options to pursue careers in one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy,” said Tim Wagner, professor and chair of the YSU Department of Chemistry. The degree was recently approved by the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Ohio is currently home to 1,300 bioscience-related organizations, half of them in Northeast Ohio.

Youngstown State University’s News Outlet will work with the Akron Beacon Journal, the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron and the Jefferson Center to study elections and election coverage as part of a $35,000 grant from the Knight Foundation. "We're excited to work on this project with these terrific partners,” said Tim Francisco, YSU professor of Journalism and director of the News Outlet.

Youngstown State University will again host the Speaker Series on Energy and the Environment this Fall Semester, starting Sept. 9 and running through Nov. 18. The lectures, free and open to the public, are 7 p.m. every Wednesday in Cushwa Hall Room B100. (The only exception is Thursday, Nov. 12, because YSU is closed on Wednesday, Nov.

Larger. Higher test scores. More diverse. Those are the buzzwords around this year’s freshman class at YSU. Preliminary numbers show a 17 percent increase in freshmen on campus this fall compared to last year, from 1,821 to 2,125. Their average ACT scores (21.15) and high school GPAs (3.14) are the highest in the university’s history. They come from 423 high school (303 last year) and 53 Ohio counties (37 last year). Nearly 350 are from out of state (up 62 percent) and nearly 500 are multicultural students (up 47 percent).