A specter is haunting Ohio — the specter of student rebellion. While Ohio University’s own Student Senate continues to focus on such adorable causes as cutting the curb on so-called “Bobcat Lane,” and our very own student trustees continue to advocate for the disenfranchisement of students on the Board of Trustees, the students of Ohio are experiencing ever-increasing levels of exploitation by the state’s universities, the government agencies that oversee them, and the private corporations that wield huge influence over them.
A recent article in The Post reported that in 2010, Ohio students graduated with an average debt of $27,713 in student loans, none of which can be expunged in bankruptcy. This is the kind of financial burden that explains why 8.8 percent of student borrowers defaulted within two years of graduation in fiscal year 2009, up from 7.0 percent the year before.
In fact, only 37 percent of students are able to repay their loans in full and on time. In addition, a quick look at OU’s budget record, which any student can find online, shows that the cost of attendance has nearly doubled in ten years from $5,493 in 2002 to $9,537 in 2012, easily outpacing the rate of inflation.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, OU is the third most expensive university in Ohio and the fifteenth most expensive in the country among 4-year public universities.
In light of that statistic, it might not be surprising that of the top 5 percent most expensive 4-year public universities in the country, six of them are in Ohio.
If that’s not bad enough, the statewide Enterprise University Plan will soon threaten to radically alter public higher education in Ohio by moving Ohio’s public universities closer to privatization. And to top it all off, 2011 was the year the student debt finally surpassed credit card debt to become the largest form of consumer debt in the country — Americans now owe more than one trillion dollars in student loans. But something else happened in 2011, the so-called “year of the protester.”
Students organized and played a critical role in rolling back elitist legislative attacks on the working class in several states across the country.
The growing demand for social, economic and environmental justice took on new dimensions and new fervor among college students on campuses all over the country, including OU and campuses across Ohio.
And yet, from an outside perspective, it might seem as if the fire that was lit in 2011 has died down and will soon be extinguished, but quite the opposite is true.
Here in Ohio, we are just getting started! On Jan. 20-22, more than 100 students from across the state will be converging in Columbus for the Ohio Student Congress to build a movement that will demand justice and equality in Ohio’s higher education system. Students interested in joining fellow OU students in Columbus for this event are encouraged to email tb138407@ohio.edu.
Tyler Barton is a senior studying chemistry.
