Like most of you, I am a product of Ohio schools. Even when it came time to venture from home, I went no farther than the opposite end of the state. There simply was no good reason to cross the border to continue my education.

In making my college decision, I can’t say that the matter of state pride weighed very heavily on my mind. Affordability was a much bigger deal. And familiarity. And, oh yes, academics. I did remember to factor that point somewhere into the equation — though it may have been an afterthought.

Yet somehow it all worked out. I learned what I needed to learn and I had a marvelous college experience. A lot of luck was involved, of course.

On reflection, the best luck of all was that my home state was this one. There was very little chance for me to make a bad choice. Ohio’s higher-education landscape is filled with colleges and universities that are among the best you will find anywhere.

This is not simply an idle boast. Check any number of independent rankings to underline the point.

There is so much to celebrate about higher education in Ohio, in fact, that it is difficult to limit the areas of excellence to spotlight. That’s why we decided that this year, as a complement to our annual “Excellence in Education” salute to outstanding educators, we would also endeavor to explore innovative programs from a cross-section of colleges and universities around the state.

Our editors chose six examples for special recognition this year. In “ ‘A’ for Effort”, we take a look at these particular points of pride: