Lawmakers propose residency requirement for Ohio scholarship
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Governor's Merit Scholarship has already helped high-achieving Ohio high schoolers attend college in-state, and Ohio senators want to ensure those students stay after graduation, too.
The scholarships give $5,000 per school year to students in the top 5% of their class who agree to attend schools in the Buckeye State. Senators continued funding for the Governor's Merit Scholarship in their state budget draft, but proposed revoking the funds if students move out of state in the three years after graduating.
'Because of this scholarship, this year, an additional 1,700 of our top students have decided to go to college in Ohio and not go to college out of state,' Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.
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The scholarship began in 2023 as a way to incentivize high-achieving Ohio high school graduates to stay in state for college, and DeWine said 87% of students offered the scholarship this year accepted it. DeWine said before the scholarship, between 35-40% of Ohio's top high school graduates attended college in another state. He said keeping students in the state is even more pertinent because two-thirds of American students work in the state they graduate from.
Now, senators want to ensure students are part of Ohio's workforce. Beginning in 2027, first-time scholarship recipients would have to commit to living in Ohio for the three years after graduation. Under the Senate's proposal, students would have to sign a promissory note that would require them to pay back the scholarships if they don't stay in Ohio.
The Senate budget changes would also adjust student eligibility. In the 2025-2026 school year, Senators proposed giving the scholarship to just the top 2% of students at each high school.
'While no final language has been approved, our office appreciates the Ohio General Assembly's support of the Governor's Merit Scholarships,' a governor's office spokesperson said. 'We will continue to work with the General Assembly through the budget process.'
Students from public schools, homeschooled, recovery dropout programs or chartered nonpublic high schools are eligible for the scholarship, which does not require an application. Instead, schools are given a specific number of scholarships to award to the top 5% of the graduating class by Nov. 1 of their graduating year. Students must actively accept the scholarships by March 1.
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In the 2023-2024 school year, Ohio's most recently available data, there were just under 1.6 million students enrolled in eligible high schools. Although class sizes and circumstances vary, that would mean around 400,000 students graduate annually.
In 2026, the top 5% of students would amount to 20,000 possible scholarship awardees. By switching to the top 2% of students, just 8,000 students would qualify in fiscal year 2027.
The Senate budget allocates $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $56,410,000 for 2027. This would allow 9,400 students to receive the full scholarship amount in 2026 and allow 11,282 students to receive the full amount in 2027. The scholarship gives 'up to $5,000' in case more students are eligible and nominated, which would lead to a prorated award.
The Senate did not keep a change to the scholarship program included in the House budget draft that would let private, for-profit universities accept Governor's Merit Scholars if they signed a commitment to comply with Senate Bill 1. S.B. 1 is a sweeping anti-DEI higher education bill that goes into effect for public colleges at the end of June, but the Senate removed this provision.
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Both the Senate and the House included provisions requiring all state institutions to accept students who graduated in the top 10% of their class, and any student in the top 5% of their class must be accepted to the main campus.
Both the House and Senate followed a DeWine recommendation to guarantee high-performing high schoolers admission to state schools. The Senate budget requires all public universities to accept Ohio residents who graduated in the top 10% of their class. If students are in the top 5%, they must be accepted to the university's main campus.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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