When Worthington University opened its doors in September 1787, it had 48 students and a faculty consisting of its founder and President, Josiah Worthington, three professors, and one tutor. Today Worthington offers instruction in 41 departments and programs and 50 major fields of study and awards the Bachelor of Arts and graduate degrees. Master's degrees are awarded in 11 fields of study and doctoral degrees in six. Students may choose from about 960 courses each year and may be counted upon to devise, with the faculty, some 1,500 individual tutorials and lessons.

The student body is made up of approximately 2,700 full-time undergraduates and 620 graduate students, including part-time students in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program, which has its primary enrollment in the summer. An ongoing faculty of more than 280 is joined each semester by a distinguished group of visiting artists and professors. But despite Worthington's growth, today's student/instructor ratio is an enviably low 10 to 1.

The library houses Sarah Ashford Worthington's impressive collection of Americana as well original manuscripts of many classic works of American literature by authors ranging from Edgar Allan Poe to Toni Morrison.