fuck ohio
originally written 08.06.2002
worst idea ever. the ohio board of regents reduced the overall budget for ohio higher education by $100 million, a cut that will be seen by 9 out of 14 of the states publically funded universities. there are a number of issues invovled with the cut. first, the cut comes unexpected to many university administrators as a “hold harmless” provision should have ensured that funding levels remained at the same level as last year. the other problem is that the funding cuts are being dealt out based on enrollment. that is, institutions with lower enrollments get bigger cuts. for universities like youngstown state, this is horribly unfair. the university is in one of the most economically depressed area of ohio, and it is no suprise that they also face falling enrollment. it seems that the state’s mentality makes a vicious cycle more vicious. schools with low enrollment get larger cuts. they in turn have to raise tuition, cut financial aid, or lower educational opportunities (degrees, research opportunities, sutdent services, etc.). all of these actions, logically, would seem to lead to further decreased enrollment, which, in turn, leads to larger funding cuts. why does ohio have such a large brain drain and low enrollment? it’s because going to school is expensive, and funding high quality education is expensive. those who want the best education value will go elsewhere, those who want to go to school in ohio may not be able to afford it. another issue. in order to increase funding, you have to increase enrollment. but currently, you have reduced funding. that means you need to try to support more students on fewer resources. this seems to be an equation for shitty education.
another thing that i want to address with the issue of school funding is osu’s new budget. one of the ideas that is heralded is a provision where colleges can keep 100% of their revenues from independent research. from what i read in the lantern, this is somehow supposed to increase the availability of classes that are in high demand. i certainly don’t see this relationship. what i see is the scenario layed out in the book “beer and circus”, where, forced to fund themselves, departments and colleges focus more on the breadwinner, reasearch, than on quality undergraduate education.
the bottom line is that be it from increased tuition, or a focus on increased enrollment rather than quality, the student loses in the end. fuck ohio.