Wesleyan accepts 68% of its applicants; according to the 2005 edition of Princeton Review, many of these applicants also apply to schools like Kenyon, Cornell, Vassar and Harvard.

Students entering Wesleyan are provided with a liberal arts education. This holistic approach encourages students to experience different fields of study and once majors are chosen, to bring those varied experiences to their selected fields of study. Upon completion of 34 units of coursework, students may earn diplomas in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or Bachelor of Music  fields of study.

In 2004, The Princeton Review ranked Ohio Wesleyan fifth out of 218 colleges and universities in the Liberal Arts Colleges-Bachelor's category for the highest percentage of international students. During the same year, OWU was ranked #17 for its students who "Never stop studying". As of January 2005, it had a score of 88 on the Review's "Academic Rating" scale and was included in the list of "Best in the Midwest" colleges.