Ohio Wesleyan admits students of all cultures, lifestyles, and socio-economic backgrounds. An index examining gay-friendly policies places OWU among the nation's gay-friendly colleges, and the university enacts policies to meet the six criteria developed by the Campus-Pride organization for recruiting and supporting students from a lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender population. Nearly 18% of students at Ohio Wesleyan receive Federal Pell Grants, which mostly go to students whose family incomes are below $40,000. This measure indicates the degree to which economically disadvantaged groups are represented at OWU.