Shawnee State University (SSU) is a medium-sized, 4-year, coeducational, public university in Ohio. Established in 1986, Shawnee State is located in the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County, near the Ohio River. An open-admissions university with a faculty-student ratio of 15:1,[3] Shawnee State is the second least expensive of Ohio's 13 state universities.[4]