Latest news with #Governor'sMeritScholarship
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
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Ohio Senate budget alters the Governor's Merit Scholarship, ties funds to Senate Bill 1 compliance
College students graduating. Getty Images. The Ohio Senate's version of the state's two-year budget would reduce the number of students who would be eligible to receive the Governor's Merit Scholarship and it would come with strings attached. The Governor's Merit Scholarship currently awards the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to attend an Ohio college or university. The Senate's version of the budget would reduce it to the top 2% of each high school starting with the 2027 fiscal year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Senate also added a provision requiring students who receive the scholarship to stay in Ohio for three years immediately after graduation. Students attending graduate school would be an exception, but the expectation would remain that they would come back to Ohio for three years after graduate school, said Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon. 'Part of the reasoning for that is we want to keep our best and brightest in Ohio,' McColley said. 'It stands to reason that if we want to keep them in Ohio, we should actually require them to stay in Ohio post-graduation.' If a student who received the Governor's Merit Scholarship moved out of the state within those three years after graduating, they would have to pay back a portion of the aid they received, McColley said. 'We do want some teeth to that,' he said. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said the three-year requirement would be almost impossible to implement. 'I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to police saying you must stay in Ohio for three years,' Huffman said. 'I suppose we can try to penalize them and all that.' Todd Jones, president and general counsel of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), said he is open to the state's three year retention after graduation. 'We're very sympathetic to the need of the state to help retain people in Ohio who are getting financial assistance,' he said. 'We wouldn't oppose it not being there, but it's certainly a judgment call for the legislature to make on that, and we're sympathetic to their desire to keep folks in Ohio.' The Senate's version of the budget eliminated provisions the Ohio House added regarding additional requirements for private colleges to continue to participate in the Governor's Merit Scholarship. The House had added language to the budget that would have required private colleges to comply with parts of Senate Bill 1 — Ohio's new higher education law that bans diversity and inclusion efforts and regulates classroom discussion, among other things. Jones was happy that was nixed from the budget. 'It's important that we retain students in Ohio and keep our best and brightest here,' Jones said. The Senate decided to take that language out of the budget after hearing concerns from many private universities, McColley said. The Governor's Merit Scholarship was enacted through the last state budget two years ago and 76% of the state's 6,250 eligible students from the class of 2024 accepted the scholarship. Eighty-seven percent of Ohio students accepted the scholarship in its second year and 11 rural counties had a 100% acceptance rate. The Senate's version of the budget trims how much money is allocated to the scholarships. It keeps it at $47 million for fiscal year 2026, but reduces it to $56.4 million in fiscal year 2027. Gov. Mike DeWine's and the House's version of the budget allocated $70 million for fiscal year 2027. The Senate's version of the budget ties a portion of the State Share of Instruction to compliance with Senate Bill 1. 'We wanted to make sure that everybody at the university level was following through with the conditions and regulations in Senate Bill 1,' said Ohio Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland. 'We have the ability to decide how we're going to fund things. … If they are viewed as in compliance, nothing will be withheld from their SSI share, which would be their normal proportion of the SSI dollars.' Huffman said he supports tying a portion of the State Share of Instruction to compliance with S.B. 1. 'If the universities aren't going to apply state law then there needs to be some incentive to make sure that they do,' he said. House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, is against tying State Share of Instruction to compliance with S.B. 1. 'I firmly oppose S.B. 1, so tying more compliance to S.B. 1, which I think is an extremely flawed piece of legislation, obviously we oppose that portion,' she said. Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, said she thinks the provision is outrageous. 'It's also following the pattern that we're seeing at the national level of intimidation and bullying, frankly, telling people that if you don't comply with what we say, then we'll just punish you and we'll withhold money,' she said. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio private college presidents ask to get rid of proposed changes to Governor's Merit Scholarship
Getty Images. Ohio private college presidents slammed proposed requirements for participating in the Governor's Merit Scholarship that were added to the House's version of the two-year operating budget during testimony in the Senate Higher Education Committee. The committee had four hearings on the budget, which Senate lawmakers are currently working on. The Ohio House passed the budget last month and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine must sign the budget by June 30. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Todd Jones, president and general counsel of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), spoke out against provisions the Ohio House added to the budget regarding new requirements for private colleges if they want to continue to participate in the Governor's Merit Scholarship, which gives the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to go to an Ohio college or university. Under the new changes made in the House, private colleges would also have to accept the top 10% of Ohio's graduating class and comply with parts of Senate Bill 1 — Ohio's new higher education law that bans diversity and inclusion efforts and regulates classroom discussion, among other things. 'I want to be clear that our concerns are not about DEI and SB 1,' Jones said. 'Our concerns are about the very nature of our institutions and what it means to be a private, nonprofit institution. … When the state dictates our missions, board structures, curriculum, hiring practices, workloads, and public engagement, the autonomy that defines nonprofit institutions disappears.' Tiffin University President Lillian Schumacher said the S.B. 1 mandates would increase operational costs without improving educational outcomes. 'For many institutions, these new burdens could lead to closures, reduced financial aid, higher tuition, and a reduction in critical educational services for students,' she said in her testimony. Forcing private colleges and universities to accept the top 10% of Ohio's graduating class would create challenges for those institutions, Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education Mike Duffey said. 'Public universities have the infrastructure with branch campuses, large-scale facilities, and state funding to absorb enrollment increases,' Jones said. 'Independent institutions operate on much smaller scales.' Eight AICUO institutions function out of a single academic building, he said. 'Imposing this mandate without providing financial or logistical support places an impractical burden on private colleges,' Jones said. Being able to welcome an additional influx of students depends on various factors including the students' major, housing and financial needs, University of Findlay President Kathy Fell said. 'I know we all agree that students will not benefit from this opportunity if approbate supports and resources for success are not available,' she said in her testimony. Aultman College President Jean Paddock said the 10% acceptance mandate would not be possible in healthcare programs that are limited to a capped number of seats. 'With a nursing shortage well documented, sending our best and brightest who want to enter the healthcare field to other states is the opposite of what we want,' Paddock said in her testimony. The Governor's Merit Scholarship was enacted through the last state budget two years ago and 76% of the state's 6,250 eligible students from the class of 2024 accepted the scholarship. The acceptance rate was 100% in Hocking, Holmes, Putnam, Adams, Monroe, Noble, and Vinton counties, Duffey said. In the second year of the scholarship, 87% of Ohio students accepted the scholarship and 11 rural counties had a 100% acceptance rate, Duffey said. Ohio Sen. Jane Timken, R-Jackson Township, said she has received several inquiries from private colleges and universities with concerns about the Governor's Merit Scholarship requirements being linked to compliance with parts of S.B. 1. 'Clearly we would lose some students if they weren't able to access those funds,' Duffey said. The budget currently allocates $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $70 million for fiscal year 2027 for the Governor's Merit Scholarship. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio House budget requires private colleges comply with diversity ban to be eligible for scholarship
(Stock photo via Getty Images) The Ohio House's version of the two-year state operating budget added new requirements for private colleges if they want to continue to participate in the Governor's Merit Scholarship, including complying with Ohio's new higher education ban on diversity and inclusion efforts. According to language from the House's version of the budget, private colleges must automatically accept the top 10% of all high school graduates and comply with parts of Senate Bill 1 — Ohio's massive new higher education law that is set to take effect in June and only applies to public universities and community colleges. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX C. Todd Jones, president and general counsel of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), questioned the motive behind the bill. 'It's clearly intended to have a bigger effect and push students to public colleges or out-of-state,' he said. 'Our state needs a better workforce and there is simply no way that the public colleges alone have the capacity with the ability to attract all of the students who want to seek those degrees,' he said. The Governor's Merit Scholarship gives the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to go to an Ohio college or university. It was enacted through the last state budget two years ago and 76% of the state's 6,250 eligible students from the class of 2024 accepted the scholarship. About 20% of the students who received the Governor's Merit Scholarship attend a private Ohio college, Jones said. The Ohio House kept the funds for the Governor's Merit Scholarship the same in the budget as Gov. Mike DeWine's original proposal — $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $70 million for fiscal year 2027, according to the House's version of the budget. The House passed the budget Wednesday with a 60-39 vote and it now moves to the Ohio Senate. DeWine must sign the budget by June 30. Automatically absorbing the top 10% would be tough for private colleges since they don't have branch campuses like most public universities in Ohio, Jones said. 'Many of our colleges lack the ability to take this kind of a surge in a given year,' he said. 'They don't even have the capacity to have larger classes. They simply are physically unable to do this.' The requirements for the Governor's Merit Scholarship in the House's version of the budget includes some of Senate Bill 1's many provisions for private colleges including banning diversity efforts, creating post-tenure reviews, and requiring students to take an American history course, among other things. But some private colleges don't have any tenured faculty or may only have a handful of tenured faculty, Jones said. 'It is really about creating such burdens on private colleges, on nonprofit private colleges, that there would be no interest left in participating in the (Governor's Merit Scholarship),' Jones said. 'Why does Ohio — a state that has a desperate workforce need, that has a population problem where people are not moving here and our young people are moving away — why in the world are we quibbling for a few $1,000 to students that can get to stay here and provide for our workforce that leads to jobs?' Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. DeWine's proposed budget seeks to get more high school students to stay in Ohio for college
On the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's two-year state budget proposal seeks to get more high school students to stay in Ohio for college through increased scholarship funding. But overall funding for the Ohio Department of Higher Education dips in the second year of his plan. The proposed budget would give ODHE $3.16 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $3.04 billion in fiscal year 2027. Steve Mockabee, president of the University of Cincinnati's American Association of University Professors chapter, was disappointed to see ODHE funding decrease during the second year of the proposed budget. 'Public education provides a good return on investment,' he said. 'It feels like a missed opportunity for the state to be decreasing its investment in higher ed.' The governor's total state budget is $218 billion. Lawmakers are now tasked with working on a budget to send back to DeWine, which he must sign by July 1. DeWine's budget would continue the Governor's Merit Scholarship, which gives the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to go to an Ohio college or university. 'This scholarship will continue to encourage Ohio's best and brightest students to stay in the state of Ohio and go to college,' DeWine said during Monday's press conference where he unveiled the budget. 'These kids will much more likely then stay in Ohio, get a job in Ohio, be Ohio citizens and be productive members of society.' The Governor's Merit Scholarship was enacted through the last state budget two years ago. Ohio's high school graduating class of 2024 included 6,250 eligible students and about 76% of them accepted the scholarship, DeWine said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Normally, we'd expect that number to be about 60%,' DeWine said. 'That means, thanks to the merit scholarship, almost 1,000 more of our top students are now going to college in the state of Ohio, and we would expect that to continue year after year.' The Governor's Merit Scholarship is estimated to cost $22.7 million for fiscal year 2025. It would cost $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $70 million for fiscal year 2027, according to the governor's proposed budget. 'It's always a positive thing, in my mind, when there are more resources available for students to have access to higher education,' Mockabee said. Funding for the Ohio College Opportunity Grant is included in the budget, which gives financial support to students who have the highest level of financial need, but funding for it would decrease in the budget's second year. The estimated cost for OCOG this fiscal year is $197.3 million and it would cost $220.6 million for fiscal year 2026 and $207.4 for fiscal year 2027, according to the governor's proposed budget. 'We remain focused on making college more affordable for all students,' DeWine said, but didn't explain the reason for the decreased funding in the second year. The State Share of Instruction (SSI), an allocation formula based on student outcome, only saw a recommended 0.1% increase for fiscal year 2026 and no change for fiscal year 2027 — for a total of $2.12 billion, according to the proposed budget. 'That's the primary funding mechanism, and it's disappointing that it would be flat, given that inflation has certainly not been flat over the last couple of years,' Mockabee said. 'In real terms, it's a cut because inflation has eaten away at the value of those dollars.' DeWine's budget proposal would also add an additional factor to determine how much state funding colleges receive: how many graduates are getting jobs. Currently, the funding that colleges receive from the SSI is determined by how many students are completing courses, certificates, and degrees. 'That will become one of the factors,' DeWine said. 'Our budget does exactly that, making Ohio the first state, we believe, in the nation to tie a significant portion of funding for colleges and universities to whether their graduates are, in fact, getting jobs.' DeWine said this is in line with what students and families want. 'They want to know what they're getting for their money,' he said. Mockabee is curious to see the specifics of the proposal. 'The devil is often in the details,' he said. 'There's always a potential for unintended consequences with these funding formulas, and I think we've seen that in the past, that sometimes they may be well intentioned, but the way that things are actually implemented may not be the best thing for students at some of our institutions.' Also included in DeWine's budget is funding for the Choose Ohio First scholarships, which helps students in STEM related fields. The estimated amount for these scholarships for fiscal year 2025 is $32 million. The recommended amount in the budget for fiscal year 2026 is $34 million and $36 million for fiscal year 2027, according to the budget proposal. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
