Hi all - We are considering Ohio State for my now junior son. Most of what I have read has been very favorable, but last week I ran into a friend whose daughter is a sophomore at OSU. She said that there is a very sizable homeless population at the edges and maybe even on campus. She seemed to think that they hung out there because the kids are nice to them and give them stuff. Have you found this to be true? If so, is it concerning? I guess I didn’t realize how much OSU is really in the city.
Yes, it is true. My daughter discovered that her freshman year. She is now a junior. I don’t know how sizable the homeless population is, however I do know she ran into most of it on portions of High Street. She never saw any of it directly on campus. That being said, I trust that she is safe and knows when to be out and when not to be. OSU is pretty much a safe campus as there are blue emergency lights everywhere as well as campus police. And, with the amount of students who attend, you are not likely to be out on the streets alone. Safety in numbers, as with anywhere. 
OSU is an excellent university, so try not to let this sway your decision. Your son will get an excellent education there. Good luck!
Just to clarify, she only ran into 2 or 3 homeless people asking for money. I didn’t want you to get the idea that there are thousands out and about. Or living in cardboard boxes on the streets or alleyways. I feel very much at ease with her attending Ohio State. In fact, I forgot all about the homeless thing on High Street until I saw this thread.
My daughter is a freshman at OSU and was only 17 when she moved to campus last fall.
So safety was quite important to me. We looked at a number of colleges prior to selecting OSU,
and felt OSU was safer than other universities we looked at in Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland.
But yes OSU is in the city (actually north of the downtown area), and there are some homeless there.
I am on campus about twice a month, doing a lot of the OSU parent activities, etc. I have only seen a couple of homeless folks off campus.
We discussed the safety issue a lot, and my daughter knows the safety procedures.
My daughter did not want to go to a more rural campus, she really loved the city vibe and
did not want to be out in the boondocks!
I admit that I walk by myself at night and early morning on the OSU campus,
I always feel safe, enough people out and about for me to feel fine about it.
I have never felt concerned on campus. But everyone on any college campus should be prudent of course.
Yes, there are homeless people in Columbus. There are homeless people in every major metropolitan city. I often question why people want to shelter their college-aged children (i.e. adults) from the harsh economic realities of life in the US. Maybe your child will be inspired to get involved in the numerous outreach efforts to help the poor in and around campus. Wouldn’t you rather have an education that teaches you to confront poverty rather than hide from it?
Truth be told, homeless people rarely pose any danger. They’re poor and they’re cold and they’re hungry. You’d do better to prepare your child by teaching him to be vigilant of other college students, who perpetrate the vast majority of crime on college campuses. In general one would do well to keep their guard up in their dorms and around other OSU students, since other OSU students are most commonly the perpetrators of sexual violence. Never heard of a homeless person walking in off the streets to rape students; I’ve heard countless stories of OSU students raping other students, however.
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/11/04/columbus-ohio-osu-student-reports-sexual-assault.html
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/27517579/sexual-assault-allegations-on-osu-campus-prompts-safety-notice
Moreover, last time I checked, the riots at OSU’s campus were carried out by other OSU students as well, not by the population of vagrants. So rather than asking if those scary poor people pose a threat, maybe ask instead why OSU encourages the kind of culture that causes so much damage after a little football game. Think of all the taxpayer money wasted by that rioting. It should have gone to homeless people.