Education classes offered at the Downtown YMCA, 1897, at 36 South Third Street.

The call of the big city drew many young men away from the farm life. As multitudes flocked to the cities, the Columbus YMCA became home to hundreds of earnest and hardworking young men. In addition to accommodations and leisure activities,the Y provided reading rooms and parlors for Christian study and endeavors of the mind, fulfilling the mission to build spirit, mind and body.

By the early 1900s, activities available at the Y included gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, boxing, bowling and basketball. With a commitment to preparing young men for a good life based on honest work, the Columbus YMCA formed the YMCA School of Commerce in 1902. Classes offered practical instruction in bookkeeping, stenography, electricity and sign painting, to name a few.

In 1933 the YMCA School of Commerce was renamed Franklin University. Franklin University separated amicably from the YMCA in 1964 and continues to offer higher education to adults in Columbus today.