YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University isn’t wasting any time. 

Having recently taken title to the former Eastern Gateway Community College campus in Steubenville, YSU announced it would offer several associate degree and certificate programs at the Jefferson County site this fall. 

Using the campus to offer expanded educational options at the very least is better than leaving the former Eastern Gateway buildings to decay from disuse – a far too common fate. 

“Our goal is not simply to offer classes but to build opportunity, creating clear academic and career pathways that meet students where they are and preparing them for where they want to go,” YSU President Bill Johnson said. 

The programs represent a mix of fields that include health care, law enforcement, education and the trades, and are the first step in YSU’s effort to establish a comprehensive presence at the campus. Many of the associate degrees create pathways into bachelor’s degree programs.

It’s a big improvement from what could have been. Eastern Gateway operated in Jefferson County for about 60 years and more than a decade in the Mahoning Valley. It ceased enrollment in 2024 and shuttered last year after years of financial and accreditation challenges mostly connected to its free college benefit program. 

That program enabled enrollment, mostly online, to swell from about 3,000 to 40,000 at its height. But the U.S. Department of Education and the Higher Learning Commission cried foul. 

The DOE ordered an end to the program, alleging the college was charging federal Pell Grant recipients more than nonrecipients. The house of cards tumbled, leaving a void in Jefferson County’s higher education landscape. 

YSU expanding into Jefferson County fills that void. We look forward to seeing the new campus grow and expand the current slate of academic offerings, perhaps someday offering four-year degrees. 

The state of Ohio bears much of the responsibility for allowing the mismanagement of Eastern Gateway to fester, forcing its closure, but state and YSU officials appear to be moving as swiftly as possible to reactivate the former Eastern Gateway campus – now that it’s under YSU’s control – as an academic institution. That’s commendable.