The Columbus Dispatch yesterday reported that Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee recommended a tuition freeze at OSU. In November, the University of Toledo announced that it was freezing tuition for the 2013–14 academic year. We applaud OSU and Toledo for beginning to address the issue of student debt, and hope that Ohio University will be the next in line to freeze tuition.
Gee made his recommendation in light of the “very real needs of our students at Ohio State.” At Ohio University, students also have very real financial needs. This is evident in recent news that more women students at Ohio University are turning to prostitution to pay for college than at all but a handful of universities worldwide. Likewise, according to Ohio University’s own Office of Institutional Research, the number one reason students drop out is inability to pay. Student Senate’s recent survey found that 40 percent of current students say there is at least “some chance” that they will drop out if tuition continues to be increased.
The recent discussions around guaranteed tuition and other cost controls that have been proposed by the Budget Planning Council are false solutions. There is no convincing evidence that such actions would do anything to make Ohio University more affordable. College is already far too expensive. We need immediate and drastic measures to make college education affordable for everyone, and if our administrators are not going to take those actions on their own, we are prepared for a fight.
The Ohio University Student Union meets Thursdays at 8 p.m. in Baker 231.
