If you want a great education on a traditional college campus – at a public school price – this is the place to be! And as a bonus, if you are a hopeless romantic like me, this place has a great tradition for love birds. 

Located in Oxford, Ohio, Miami is home to 19K students, with just about 17,000 undergraduates. Students are represented from all 50 states and the District of Columbia And 86 countries.

Here are THREE reasons I love Miami University:

The Admission presentation began with this slogan:  “The brains of a big university, heart of a small school”

First: The feel of the campus and local town 

The best way to describe the campus is to simply tell you that when I walk around I feel like I’m truly on a college campus – with brick buildings that look like large gingerbread houses, where the student center is perfectly adult like and grown up, and has all the hustle and bustle that a college students need. 

Students are required to live on campus for the first 2 years, to ensure that traditional experience. For junior and senior year,  all student are required to live off campus,  allowing independence and growth. 

Most students live within a 2 mile radius of campus, in the town of Oxford. This is a walking neighborhood – with everything you need found on High Street including my favorite store: Apple Tree. 

Second: The Hopeless Romantic Tradition 

It is believed that if you kiss your sweetheart at midnight under the Upham Arch while the lantern is still lit – you will be together forever. These two souls are destined for marriage and as a result they are known as a Miami merger.  Two Miami families, merging as one.  

Every Valentine’s day – Miami mergers receive Valentine cards from the institution. And – in 2009 – as part of Miami’s bicentennial celebration – the college invited all Miami mergers to return to Upham arch and re-pledge their love. At the time it set a Guinness Book World record for most couples gathered to renew their vows. 

What I love about this story is not only is this just precious – but what I hear is LOVE for their alumni. – think about the great care and thought that goes into sending those valentine cards each year. – Again – big university with the heart of a small school. 

Third: The Tuition Promise – parents – you are going to love this… 

Miami University is a public institution in Ohio – like a UC Irvine, Penn State, or U Maryland

For fall of 2016 the cost of attendance for first time students was as follows:

Just over $33K for Ohio residents

And $54K for non-residents 

This includes room and board – which is valued at close to $16k

But WAIT for it – here is the BEST part: 

Whatever the tuition is when your child arrives on campus is the tuition price for ALL FOUR YEARS!! Let me say that again. There is no increase in your college tuition bill for four years. 

One MORE thing to love about Miami: the admission office. 

1 – I called ahead to reserve a spot and the young woman was very helpful on the phone.

2 – The Visitor Center is welcoming, inviting, and engaging – all at once 

3 – The auditorium can hold large crowds, but is still small enough to feel cozy

4 – The presentation is perfect – 15 minutes of facts, figures, faculty – broken up by admission information – and closes with a video that captures your heart.

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