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, live in 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.  

Please note that for the 2025-2026 academic year, STEP will accommodate up to 2850 participants on the Columbus campus. Should interest exceed space in the program, STEP will conduct a lottery process to determine participation. Students not initially selected for the program through the lottery will be placed on a waitlist and offered admission on a rolling basis through the second Friday of fall semester. 

STEP is available on the Columbus campus and each of the regional campuses and ATI. 

Any questions about STEP eligibility can be directed to step@osu.edu.