STEP Eligibility

All second-year students at Ohio State are eligible to participate in STEP. This includes students who started their college experience at Ohio State Columbus, campus change students and transfer students. There is no residency requirement to join STEP – participants can live in campus housing, sorority and fraternity housing or commute from off campus.  

To determine STEP eligibility, the program looks for one or more of the following characteristics: 

• one year spent in college (at Ohio State or another institution) 

• one year of college credit hours accumulated (excluding hours earned in high school) 

As a reminder, STEP is a year-long program during the second year, followed by the completion of a STEP Signature Project. Students must begin participation in STEP in the autumn semester of their second year. Students may not begin the program in spring or summer semester.  

STEP has limited capacity. For the 2027-2028 academic year, the program will accommodate up to 2,400 participants on the Columbus campus. A lottery will be used to determine participation only if interest exceeds available space. Students not selected through the lottery will be placed on a waitlist and may be admitted on a rolling basis through the second Friday of autumn semester. 

Students enrolled at an Ohio State regional campus should contact their local STEP Coordinator for more information. 

For questions related to STEP eligibility, email step@osu.edu.