Ohio colleges and universities are hoping the public and state legislators will take notice of the
message that they need more funding if Ohio is to compete economically in the future.
“We think the state is at an economic development crisis level in terms of the preparation of the
workforce,” said Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University Council of Ohio.
Johnson and Bowling Green State University President Mary Ellen Mazey sat down with the Sentinel-Tribune
on Monday to discuss the issue.
“The various foundations that deal in higher education believe that you need to have about 65 percent of
the population” with some post-secondary education in the job market, Johnson said.
However at the current rate in Ohio, by 2025 the state would reach just under 43 percent, “a huge gap,”
said Johnson.
The result of the gap, he said, could include underemployment as well as declining job prospects and a
dearth of new investment in the state.
In today’s environment, he said, jobs follow “talented people. If you don’t have your fair share of
highly-qualified people, you are going to not attract business investment.”
Ohio residents, according to a survey of more than 800 people done by the IUC, don’t seem to be
particularly informed on the issues of higher education funding.
The study says that almost 60 percent of respondents, after receiving information given out in the
survey, favored providing public universities with more state funding, compared to about 40 percent
beforehand. High percentages of the respondents said they value higher education and believe Ohio should
have a top-rate public university system. And they further believe that their current tax burden isn’t
particularly onerous.
All of these items seem to show the public could be receptive to an increase in state funding for higher
education, said Johnson.
He said that talking about the need for money can be a touchy subject for university presidents, because
it can make their schools look like less-desirable places to go.
“There are choices in the public higher education business,” he said. “People tend to want to attend the
school that’s hot or they perceive is doing well.”
“We’re out telling our story and hope that people learn a little bit more about higher education, its
value and convey that to their public officials,” said Johnson.
Mazey said they are hoping to get this message out to legislators so it can be a topic in the next
legislative session.
Johnson said that while they already have a strong partnership with the Ohio legislature that they would
like to increase, “the state has never been a leader in higher education funding.”
Currently, said Mazey, 22 percent of the funding for colleges and universities comes from the state. That
used to be around 60 percent in previous decades.
“I don’t think the public totally understands that,” she said.
Nationwide, about 30 percent of people have a college education. That number drops to around 26 percent
in Ohio currently, with only 17 percent with that level of education in Toledo.
Johnson said that, as a result of funding cuts, financial aid to students has been reduced by 50 percent
– nationally, the debt burden of a college education is about $26,000 on average. Though Ohio is 49th
out of the 50 states in rate of tuition increase, Mazey said the average debt incurred by students is
slightly larger due to above-average tuition costs statewide.
“This debate should occur during the campaign,” said Johnson, noting this is an election year, “but the
campaign isn’t where the decisions get made. The decisions get made with the next round of the budget,
which is around February of next year and will conclude in June of next year.”