College Spread of COVID-19 in Ohio

Cumulative COVID-19 case counts by county in Ohio were gathered and combined with population data from the Census Bureau and student enrollment by county from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for colleges or universities that compete in NCAA sports. Monthly median percent increases, monthly average percent increases, and average cases per 100k of COVID cases between counties with colleges and counties without colleges were calculated. The Wilcoxon test was used to determine if the samples were similar, and the analysis found the differences were statistically significant. Metro and non-metro groupings were added to the average cases per 100k to further subdivide the data set. Analysis found no statistically significant differences.