As state agencies await the approval of the next state biennium budget, which includes a $170 million cut to higher education, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has lifted the statewide tuition freeze.
Although Ohio University students will not see a tuition hike for Fall Quarter, an increase is possible for Winter or Spring Quarter, said Becky Watts, chief of staff for President Roderick McDavis.
Everything will be on the table
Watts said.
Following a two-year in-state tuition freeze, universities may now increase tuition by 3.5 percent this year and next. If tuition increased both years, Ohio residents could pay about $6,846 per quarter at OU.
Looking to give universities more time to plan, the Ohio Board of Regents has stated that cuts to higher education will not take effect until fiscal year 2011.
This will give them a year of increased tuition and planning time to prepare for the cuts that will come in the 2010-11 school year said Chancellor Eric Fingerhut in a statement on Tuesday. At the Board of Regents we will use this time to seek system-wide efficiencies that will help schools make cuts without sacrificing quality.
The university estimates that the Athens campus will receive $111.472 million in unrestricted state funding this year - about $2.7 million more than last year.
With an increase in state funding this year and a cut in fiscal year 2011, the next step will be to meet with groups such as the Budget Planning Council to discuss ways to increase revenue and diminish expenses, Watts said, adding she did not want to speculate about how much OU's budget will be cut.
It's going to be difficult
she said. It's balancing priorities.
The Budget Planning Council is expected to meet later this month to begin discussions about the state budget.
While much good work has been done at Ohio University to strengthen our ability to respond to challenging times
we will need to do more
McDavis said in a letter to the university community. We must quickly begin campus discussions to plan and prepare for the reductions we will face in fiscal year 2011.
The new budget also includes state funding reforms for higher education, including a new performance-based funding formula that will award universities funding based on graduation and course completion rates. The previous funding formula was based on enrollment numbers.
The Ohio College Opportunity Grant, a need-based grant, will also shift from a sliding funding scale to a rate of $1,000 per student.
The state believes increases in aid from Pell Grant scholarships will compensate for differences in state financial aid, but some students may see a decrease in aid, Watts said, adding that students should contact the financial aid office to see how changes to state financial aid will affect them.
Other universities around Ohio have begun planning their own ways to combat impending budget cuts.
Officials from both Bowling Green State University and Miami University have said they will not raise tuition for fall semester. Ohio State University officials have said it will continue the tuition freeze throughout the next academic year. As of yesterday, Kent State University and Youngstown State University are the only four-year colleges to raise next year's tuition.
OU's Board of Trustees recently passed a resolution permitting President Roderick McDavis, in conjunction with the chairman of the board, to adjust its recently-approved $684.089 million budget to reflect the state budget.
Although not immune to budget cuts this time, higher education was left largely unscathed by nearly $2 billion in state budget cuts over the past fiscal year. OU faces a budget shortfall that will total between $15 million and about $30 million dollars over the next two years.
The university cut $13.5 million from its budget this year by laying off 58 employees and implementing cuts across its academic units, among other measures. OU expects the governor to sign the state budget into law within a week. The state is currently operating under its third seven-day interim budget.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that tuition could be raised 7 percent over the next two years, rather than 3.5% each year. It also stated that Kent State University was the only four-year college to raise tuition. Youngstown State University also announced plans to raise tuition. The Post regrets this error.
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Caitlin Bowling
