UC Clermont sets ambitious growth plan with 5,500-student target
Dean Jeff Bauer talks to Cincinnati Business Courier about college's future
University of Cincinnati Clermont College Dean Jeff Bauer recently spoke with the Cincinnati Business Courier about the regional college's future among the city's growing eastern corridor.
When UC Clermont opened its doors in 1972, the college catered mainly to adult learners with a program of evening classes. The college evolved with the times and with the demand for affordable higher education. In the early 2000s, the college became an attractive place for traditional college-age students to study and explore the higher ed waters for two years, then use their college credits to enroll at UC’s main campus or another four-year college for the remaining two years.
As adult learners shifted to online classes, UC Clermont moved into offering online programs. Today, a variety of students, from first-generation college students to adult learners, are enrolled either virtually, in person or a mix of both methods — called HyFlex learning — according to UC Clermont Dean Jeff Bauer.
The college’s reach has expanded dramatically with the growth of online classes.
“When the college started out, we basically were recruiting students from two states, Ohio and Kentucky,” Bauer said. “Today, we have students from all 50 states and 10 other countries. So that has really expanded our role.”
The regional college is planning to grow, as the entire University of Cincinnati system aims to reach 60,000 students by 2030.
Bauer forecasts enrollment of 4,800 (which includes about 1,000 College Credit Plus students) by 2030, and close to 5,500 by 2035.
Read the full story from the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Feature image at top: UC Clermont Dean Jeff Bauer. photo/Danny kidd
About UC Clermont
UC Clermont College is in Clermont County on 91 beautifully wooded acres in Batavia Township. The college is an accredited, open-access college offering more than 60 associate degrees, certificates and bachelor’s degrees. UC Clermont is part of the nationally recognized University of Cincinnati. For more information, call 513-556-5400 or visit www.ucclermont.edu.
Related Stories
UC marketing class featured in Super Bowl Ad Meter School Spotlight
March 4, 2026
University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business was one of just 16 institutions representing USA Today’s Ad Meter School Spotlight program, where students got to evaluate the ads and publish their findings alongside industry professionals. The students' top-rated commercials largely aligned with Ad Meter’s official rankings, with Budweiser's "American Icons" earning the highest score. The participants included over 300 students across two marketing classes taught by assistant professor-educator Summer Shelton. She came to the University from a marketing research firm and brings experience ranking Super Bowl commercials as an industry professional herself.
Study: There might be 3 different types of ADHD
March 4, 2026
The University of Cincinnati's Melissa DelBello was featured in a National Geographic article discussing recent research she coauthored that used brain imaging to identify three distinct subtypes of of ADHD, each with its own chemical interactions in the brain.
Nurses are in high demand
March 3, 2026
WCPO recently spoke with faculty and students at UC College of Nursing about the education pipeline needed to train more nurses to meet a growing demand for healthcare nationally.