Ohio aims for 65 percent of residents to attain a post-secondary degree by 2025. Yet dwindling support for higher education puts college out of reach for many Ohioans. In two new releases - a two-page Budget Bite and a seven-page report - Policy Matters Ohio shows how inadequate funding for college and need-based aid keeps Ohio from meeting its goals and thwarts the dreams of thousands of students.

Between 2008 and 2018, spending per college student fell by $1,304 or 18.1 percent, adjusted for inflation, according the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The 2020-2021 House budget proposal would increase State Share of Instruction (SSI), the main state funding for public colleges, by only 2.1 percent over two years – an actual decline after inflation. Cuts to state support force colleges to shift costs to students. Students paid average tuition of $9,801 at main campuses, $5,951 at branch campuses and $4,497 at community colleges during the 2019 budget year — all higher than the national average. Ohio ranks 45th among 50 states for college affordability.

On average Ohio families earning up to $30,000 a year would need to spend 81% of their income for one year of the net price of a public university (tuition, fees, room and board minus financial aid); and 38% for community college, according to the Institute for Research on Higher Education. State policy also excludes over 110,000 community college and regional campus students from Ohio’s need-based aid, the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG). More than 60 percent of black undergraduates and more than 51 percent of Latino undergraduates are ineligible. Students at Central State University, a public historically black university, received $860 less in OCOG than students at for-profit private institutions.

“By neglecting support for higher education and need-based aid, Ohio is keeping college out of reach for many residents,” said Policy Matters Researcher Victoria Jackson. “Those who can pursue a degree may be bogged down by debt that keeps them from buying a home, starting a family and contributing to their communities in other ways. Ohio won’t thrive in the future unless our policymakers help everyone who wants to afford post-secondary education.”