The Ohio State University College of Nursing was founded in 1914, and thus has undergone many changes throughout the past 104 years. The college began as the three-year Homeopathic Hospital Training Program for Nursing. In 1922, the hospital was transferred to The Ohio State University College of Medicine and the name was changed to Starling-Loving Hospital. By 1933, the university was offering either a three-year nursing diploma program or a five-year Bachelor of Science in Education with a diploma in nursing program.

In 1936, the three-year program was discontinued, leaving only the five-year plan administered by the College of Education, in cooperation with the College of Medicine. This new structure allowed Ohio State to be one of just 23 schools approved by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Nursing in 1938. Eventually the five-year plan was eliminated and the school became a part of the College of Medicine, but this meant that the college-level program was reduced to that of a hospital training school.