Ohio State University’s offer to give free tuition to more in-state residents could be welcome news to Ohioans looking to go to college – but leaders at the state’s other public universities may be the ones most closely watching this new initiative.
Beginning next fall, students from families making less than $100,000 annually won’t have to pay tuition or mandatory fees if they begin at one of Ohio State’s regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark or Wooster. Students can choose to finish either an associate or bachelor’s degree at one of those locations or transfer to the main campus in Columbus.
This new program, though, is targeting the same students who have long been the key demographic for regional public universities such as Cleveland State University, Kent State University, and the University of Akron.
These institutions often attract higher rates of low-income, older, and/or students of color – and are the same places that have experienced steep enrollment drops and declining state funding over the past decade.
“It’s going to be very hard for them to compete with Ohio State, given the brand recognition,” said Cecilia Orphan, an associate professor of higher education at the University of Denver who studies these schools through her work as a co-founder of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges.
Fewer students could, ultimately, result in fewer dollars coming in, and a weakened regional public university can have a reverberating impact in a community. In addition to educating students, these institutions also serve big roles as employers, landowners, and arts and culture hubs.
Pressure on regional public universities
Flagship universities can be “greedy institutions,” said Orphan. These schools are often in already-strong financial situations, which means they don’t necessarily need more students, she said.
Ohio State is one of the largest universities in the country. Early data shows more than 67,250 students enrolled across the Ohio State system this fall. Its Columbus campus is also more selective than other state schools. About three out of every four new freshmen graduated within the top 10% of their high school class.
It’s a different story for many of the state’s regional publics. The University of Toledo, for example, lost more than a third of its total undergraduate population over the past decade. Nearly 11,000 undergrads enrolled there this fall, down from about 16,250 in 2016.
Still, though, most people who do go on to college enroll at a school within 50 miles of their homes. Nationwide, regional public universities educate the majority of Americans attending a four-year institution. These schools are also typically touted as being a more affordable college option.
How Ohio State’s free tuition program will work
Under the program – officially called the “Regional Campus Commitment” – Ohio State will waive tuition and fees for up to eight semesters or the equivalent of four full-time school years, a university spokesperson told Signal.
That timeframe worries Orphan. She pointed out that students from low-income backgrounds tend to take longer than that to graduate.
Plus, Ohio State’s regional branches are smaller – about 2,900 students enrolled this fall in Newark, the largest population outside of Columbus – and that may mean the campus cultures may not “be primed to support their success, like a Cleveland State or Shawnee State or Wright State would,” she said.
Those types of schools have enrolled low- and middle-income students “for so long, and have really thought about ‘how do we create a campus environment that’s supportive to first-generation college, low-income students [and] students who have children,” said Orphan.
In a recent news release, Ohio State Executive Vice President and Provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda called the new program a way to make “an Ohio State degree attainable for more students across the state.”
The program’s income eligibility limit of $100,000 is higher than the benchmarks set by other current scholarships and grants the university offers. It’s also higher than Ohio’s current median household income of $80,520.
“By removing financial barriers, we are expanding opportunity and preparing more graduates to contribute to their communities and to Ohio’s future,” he said in the release.
Nearly 6,000 students are attending one of Ohio State’s regional campuses this fall, about a 9% increase from the same time last year.