Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university in Portsmouth, Ohio. Established in 1986, Shawnee State is an open admissions university. It is the southernmost member of the University System of Ohio. History Although its roots date back to 1945, when Ohio University established an academic center in Portsmouth, the university was actually conceived in 1985 when Vern Riffe, the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, introduced legislation to create Shawnee State University. The legislation passed both Ohio houses and was signed into law by Governor Richard Celeste in 1986. In 1987, the university's library was named a federal depository library. In 1990, the university awarded its first bachelor's degrees, having been authorized by the state Regents to establish baccalaureate programs two years earlier. The university established its first master's degree program in 2000 and its second master's program (the Master of Education) in 2010. It now also offers a Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences and a Master of Occupational Therapy. In 2022, the university settled with a professor for $400,000 after he had previously been disciplined for refusing to use a transgender student's pronouns and later sued the university in 2018 over First and Fourteenth Amendment violations. The professor had previously offered compromises to refuse using any titles or pronouns with the student and the university called the settlement an economic one, instead of admitting to any violation. Academics Shawnee State University has more than 70 associate, bachelor, and master's degree programs. The most popular majors are Nursing, Business Administration, Sociology, Early Education Studio Art, Biology, Fitness Administration, and Psychology. The university offers an Honors Program for exceptional students. The Clark Memorial Library of Shawnee State is a charter member of the OhioLINK library consortium., giving faculty and students access to 46 million books and other items. Financial aid Shawnee State awards more than $25 million annually in financial aid. Scholarships, grants, loans, and college work-study programs are available. In 2018, 94% of all SSU students received some form of financial aid. International programs To broaden the university's approach, SSU has student and faculty exchange programs with several overseas institutions, including the Jaume I University in Spain, Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, Zhejiang University of Technology in China, and the Ludwigsburg University of Education in Germany. SSU offers summer study abroad programs in Greece, Great Britain, and Ireland, and other countries. Some of these programs are funded