Information for International Students
This page is intended to help international students have a rough idea of how life is in Kent.
The Town
Kent is a small university town with its downtown area only about six blocks away from Satterfield Hall (where most translation courses take place). Despite its small size, however, everything you need can be found either downtown or in the larger supermarkets, shopping plazas and restaurants in the surrounding areas. Kent is also a little under an hour's drive from Cleveland. If you want to read more about Kent, see its entry. For information about things to do and shops available in town, visit our section Around Kent.
Housing
The Kent State campus is located between East Summit Street and Main Street, and Satterfield Hall is located at the corner of East Summit Street and Janik Drive/Morris Road. When looking for a place to live, we recommend that you live as close to campus as possible, especially if you have no means of transportation. To help you do so, we have created an Apartment Listing page with some of the closest places to live. Make sure to click on the link to the map at the bottom in order to see the location of the apartments in relation to Satterfield Hall. If you like an apartment, be sure to check the reviews for it and weigh the pros and cons.
Weather
Weather in Kent is very unpredictable. Many people say that northern Ohio is the only place where you can experience all four seasons in just one day. Of course, that does not happen as a rule, but it is definitely possible to wake up one day with a lot of rain, to have beautiful sunshine a few hours later, followed by some snow. Summers tend to be very hot with a fair amount of rain. Temperatures (daily highs) during the months of May through August range between the 70s and 90s Fahrenheit (21 and 32 Celsius). Winters also tend to be quite cold, with snow not melting until the beginning of March. The temperatures during the winter months can average around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6 degrees Celsius), but there are warmer days also, in the 30s and 40s. Spring and fall are very nice seasons in Kent. The cooler temperatures in the fall are definitely needed after the hot summers, and the warm temperatures in the spring are always on our minds during the winter.
Transportation
The transportation system in Kent does not reach all the areas of town, and sometimes buses that go to certain areas only run every 30, 45 or 60 minutes. This is the main reason we recommend living close to campus for at least your first semester or year. The local transportation system is called and it works very well on campus and in some surrounding areas such as Allerton, Main Street and downtown. You can check the schedule and routes online to verify if there is a bus that goes through the area where you are planning to live. Another means of transportation commonly used in Kent are Uber and Lyft — both offer convenient and safe taxi service. You can get them by installing the applications for free on your smartphone.
Airports
When planning your trip, take into consideration that there are two airports close to Kent. The closest one is (not an international airport) which is approximately 30 minutes away from downtown Kent (23 miles/38 km). The other airport is , which is approximately 45 minutes away (41 miles/65 km). There are taxis available, but they can be very expensive.
The Office of Global Education (OGE) offers free pickup from the airport if you contact them on time: All you need to do is to give them your flight information. To arrange that, contact the OGE directly.
If you have further questions or need more details on the information posted here, please contact us at kentling@kent.edu. We will be happy to help you.