Government plans to increase financial aid
By Amanda Glatfelter
For the past decade, college students have been dealing with rising tuition costs. Working several jobs, dropping in and out of school, and not being able to afford the required texts are but a few challenges these students face.
Cleveland State freshman Amy Lemoine is one of them.
“I’m an out of state student, so it costs more for me as far as tuition,” says Lemoine, “and I don’t get that much financial aid. I have had to take out two loans to attend college.”
But students shouldn’t despair much longer. Government leaders recognize the problem, and after November’s elections, are finally taking action.
In 1990, the legislature imposed six-percent tuition caps in order to control climbing costs. In 2001, these caps were removed, giving every university in the state the power to raise tuition without limitation. This is only half of the story, though.
Ohio Rep. Steve Driehaus, the minority whip in the House of Representatives, knows that college students are suffering, but until recently options have been limited.
The general assembly was facing cuts, according to Driehaus, and with early education and Medicaid spending increasing, higher education funding decreased.
“Universities were flat-funded for the last eight years,” Driehaus said. “This meant that as costs at the universities increased, the funding did not. Therefore the legislature had to lift the tuition caps.”
The question to be asked according to Driehaus is are we getting the best bang for our buck at the university level?
“The spending needs to be controlled and limited at the university level,” Driehaus said.
Universities get government money, but the government has no voice in how that money is ultimately spent.
Ohio universities are spending a fortune and someone has to pay.
The rising tuition in Ohio is therefore directly related to a huge spending problem at the university level.
“Do we need as many engineering schools in Ohio or should we take the best in Ohio and make them better?” asks Driehaus. The problem with the university system currently in place is that, “we don’t look at education holistically,” he said.
But change is on the way.
Gov. Ted Strickland is devoted to making higher education a priority. He recently met with the presidents of every university in Ohio to discuss problems and possible solutions, the first meeting of its kind.
“A reinstatement of tuition caps is even being whispered around the general assembly,” Driehaus said.
Another option is vouchers for students.
Although Driehaus doesn’t necessarily agree, vouchers would give the money to the individual student and he would then find the university of his choosing. Driehaus assures that over the next two years, the university system in Ohio will undergo some big alterations.