Rural doesn’t mean boring, and small doesn’t mean limited. Tiffin’s size and personality will benefit you through networking opportunities and the comforts of home while providing a charming and unique backdrop to your college years.
To citizens and students, Tiffin just feels like home. Experience the comfort and convenience of a small town while benefiting from the personal relationships and networking potential a close-knit community can offer. Start a career, follow a passion, and create lasting friendships in a friendly and supportive environment. Tiffin is the county seat of Seneca County with a population of 18,000. It's also been ranked one of the safest college towns in the country.
When it’s time to get off campus, you don’t have to go far to find outdoor activities. Hedges Boyer is a 78-acre park with plenty of options for recreation including sand volleyball courts, ball diamonds, a music shell for concerts, walking trails, picnic pavilions, open fields, disc golf, and a swimming pool. Tiffin has 12 other parks in town as well as three golf courses within 10 minutes of campus.
The Tiffin YMCA is five minutes from campus. Heidelberg offers joint programs with the Y for students including Karate, Pilates, Cycling, and personal training sessions. Your Heidelberg student ID gives you free access to their facilities.
Our students enjoy exploring Tiffin’s expanding downtown shops including Threads, Simply Susan's, and Washington Street Outfitters and, of course, Walmart as the backup for anything you may need.
Tiffin and the surrounding area provide a vibrant community atmosphere for events. Every year, the community looks forward to the Heritage Festival, the Tiffin Arts Festival, Jazz Festival, Christmas at the Ritz, and the East Green Concert Series.
The historic Ritz Theatre in town also provides opportunities to see various plays, singers, comedians, and performers. The Ritz Theatre offers $5 "rush" tickets the day of most shows just by showing your Heidelberg student ID card half an hour before the show. Cinemark Movie Theatre also offers $2 Tuesday movies for students. For students seeking bigger venues, Tiffin isn’t far from Ohio’s biggest cities (Columbus 1 hour 45 minutes; Cleveland 1 hour 45 minutes; Toledo 1 hour).
There are too many food options in Tiffin to list, but it’s a nice mix of well-known chains (Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, Pizza Hut, Jimmy Johns) and local one-of-a-kind eateries (Benchwarmers, Heavenly Pizza, JTs Bagel Bar, Empire 138). When it’s time to go out, you can choose between fast-food, high-end dining, and everything in between.
Tiffin is home to several hotels (Hampton Inn, Holiday Express) and a variety of bed and breakfasts all within ten minutes of campus.