In 2008, the United States faced its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The ensuing budget cuts hit higher education funding hard, especially in Ohio. Between 2009 and 2013, Ohio’s total higher education appropriation (or the total sum of money allocated by the state towards higher education) dropped over $400 million.
But where national levels have since begun to recover, Ohio’s higher education funding has remained stagnant on a year-to-year basis since 2009. While the additive total of every state’s education appropriation is now above 2009 levels, Ohio’s higher education appropriation is below and in 2023 was 78% percent of what it was in 2009 (adjusted for inflation, in 2023 dollars).
In the last few years, it’s seen sharp declines.
Over the same time period, Ohio has also experienced severe tuition inflation. From 2009 to 2023, the average cost of attendance at public Ohio universities has risen from $16,582 to $24,423.
Furthermore, since 2008 the cost of attending public universities in Ohio is rising at a faster rate than Ohio’s median household income. Thus, the cost of getting a good education is becoming more and more expensive. In fact as of 2023, the yearly cost of attending one of Ohio’s public universities accounts for around 37% of the median household income in Ohio.
According to Dr. Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University, higher education funding and tuition costs are strongly related.
“It's a very direct connection,” Dr. Bleemer said. ”As soon as state budgets are cut, with regard to higher education, you see immediate tuition increases as the university tries to maintain its current level of funding.”
This increased reliance on tuition for funding also helps explain why four-year public universities in Ohio generate less revenue per student compared to national averages. Consequently, Ohio universities charge more tuition from their students and have less money to allocate towards these students (as represented by revenue per student in the graph below).
Not only are Ohio public university students experiencing higher tuition prices compared to their nationwide peers, but they are also receiving far less aid from their state to help pay these tuition costs.
Although Ohio’s public financial aid allocation per student sat slightly below national levels even before the Great Recession, the allocation per student is now below a third of the national average — and the gap continues to widen.
So what does this all mean for prospective students?
Ohio residents are experiencing record-high student debt. And according to Dr. Bleemer, rising tuition and student debt are changing students’ choice of academic pursuits.
“These additional tuition costs push kids away from, say, humanities degrees, toward relatively more lucrative degrees out of concern that they're going to have to pay back these costs upon graduation,” Bleemer said.
Rising student debt is having impacts outside of the classroom, too. Bleemer said debt has been a driving factor in pushing back the age at which young people become “independent adults.”
“We have evidence, for example, that kids with higher levels of student debt delay marriage, delay moving out of their parent’s house and delay buying a house or buying a car for the first time,” Bleemer said.
Stagnant higher education funding in Ohio and subsequent rising tuition costs have also been factors in changing demographics and accessibility at Ohio public universities.
“There's some evidence that increases in-state tuition levels, just in the sticker price of tuition, discourages some lower-income students from enrolling at — probably not the flagship Ohio schools — but at the comprehensive, local, four-year universities in the state,” Bleemer said. “It wouldn't surprise me if the typical Ohio college student has gotten a little bit higher income because of the increased tuition cost of enrollment.”
According to recent polls, from 2022 to 2024, the percentage of The Ohio State University’s student body whose family income was less than $30,000 a year has lowered from 19% to 17%, and the percentage whose family income exceeds $110,000 a year has risen from 33% to 38%.
Universities in Ohio are making efforts to overcome accessibility issues. The Ohio State University, for example, has a dedicated strategic enrollment management office to deliver programs such as the “Financial Aid Optimization” plan. Since 2018, The Ohio State has lowered the percentage of their students who graduate with debt from 50% to 42%.
Nonetheless, at the state level, higher education funding does not look likely to improve any time soon.
“I have not seen any substantial policy interest in increasing higher education funding from state governments,” Bleemer said. “I have no reason to think that the trend wouldn't just continue in the future.”
