Wright State University is a national public university in Dayton, Ohio with more than 15,000 students. Offering 295 degree programs, the university is made up of eight colleges, three schools, and a branch campus in Celina, Ohio. Named for the Wright brothers, Wright State University offers an exceptional, affordable education.
The campus opened in September 1964 with 3,203 registered students and 55 faculty members. The next year, State Bill 210 passed, allowing the campus to become an independent state university contingent upon enrollment totals. The Ohio General Assembly approved the name Wright State University to honor Dayton’s Wright brothers.
Ohio Gov. James Rhodes’s efforts in the early 1960s to place public higher education facilities within 30 miles of every Ohioan led to the birth of Wright State University.
At the time, Dayton was a high-technology center with a special need for a highly developed labor force. Community leaders mounted a private capital-fund campaign to secure a joint branch campus for The Ohio State University and Miami University that could be converted into a unified state university.