The Campus

Miami University Hamilton's campus was established in 1968 with an open enrollment policy, with the intention to provide a "Miami University education" to students in southwestern Ohio who could not afford to attend classes in Oxford or who were academically ineligible for admittance to the highly selective main campus.  Approximately, 3,500 students currently attend classes at this ten building campus on the eastern bank of the Great Miami River in Hamilton, OH, only 16 miles from the main campus in Oxford, OH.  62% of Miami University Hamilton students attend part-time.  The current campus dean of Miami University Hamilton is Dr. Daniel Hall, who heads a full-time faculty of approximately 50. Miami University Hamilton provides certificate and associate degree programs, and a limited number of bachelor degree programs.  Some Miami University Hamilton students attend classes and a few even eventually transfer to the Oxford campus attempting to complete their degrees.

 Appropriately, the site of the campus is a capped garbage dump (see below).

Criticism of Academic Standards

Many are critical of the academic standards at Miami University Hamilton in comparison with the main campus in Oxford, although Miami University Hamilton administrators maintain in public that there is no difference in standards.  However, Miami University launched a task force in 2005 to "address the most important issues facing the regional campuses, including ways to improve curriculum...".   The Cincinnati Enquirer has also repeatedly described the Hamilton Campus as remedial, including this statement from a 2001 article: "Miami University sends most remedial students to its Hamilton or Middletown campuses." ("What Tri-State Colleges Offer" by Ben Kaufman, March 5, 2001)  Controversy surrounds this issue because academic credits earned on the ''REMEDIAL'' Miami University Hamilton campus are not valued differently from credit hours earned on the main campus.

The academic environment at Miami University Hamilton is absolutely horrific.  Hamilton students are very lazy and many of them are functionally illiterate.  They have grown to expect receiving "academic welfare" (a dumbing-down of standards) from the MUH faculty and the school largely accommodates them for financial reasons to keep the campus afloat.

Despite Miami University's plans to one day advance into the top ten national public universities in the nation (along with the University of Virginia), they will never do so with Miami University Hamilton attached to them.  Major reforms at the Hamilton Campus need to be undertaken immediately.

Is it not interesting that both Miami University and the University of Virginia are highly respected public universities, both "public ivys", yet their respective branch campuses could not be more different.  The University of Virginia (UVA)'s Wise Campus is considered one of the best regional liberal arts colleges in the entire country.  In 1999, U.S. News & World Report ranked UVA Wise as the second best liberal arts college in the entire southern region.  UVA Wise achieved this while admitting over 90% of applicants that year.  Where is Miami University Hamilton ranked for the Midwest region?  Is MUH ranked anywhere?  Why is there such a difference between the regional campuses of these two public universities?

What is taking place at Miami University Hamilton is disrespectful to both those Miami University students in Oxford who legitimately EARN their Miami University academic credit and to the millions of college students across the United States who work very hard to complete their degrees at schools with lesser reputations than Miami University.

There is a need for something like this remedial branch campus in southwestern Ohio, but it should be called a junior college or community college, NOT MIAMI UNIVERSITY and it should operate in an academically legitimate fashion.

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External Links

Miami University Hamilton Regional Campus Website

Miami University Hamilton Harriers Athletics Website