By John Hilber / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

In the last 21 years, in-state undergraduate tuition and fees for some public universities in Ohio have doubled or more than doubled, according to Ohio Department of Higher Education data from 2003 and 2024

As tuition has climbed, the department’s records show the number of students enrolled in Ohio public universities has decreased by nearly 47,000 from 2020 to 2023.

“We’ve already seen low enrollment,” said Piet van Lier, a senior researcher at Policy Matters Ohio. “We’ve seen enrollment drop over the past four years. It has to be, in part, because it costs more to go to school than it used to.”

Through the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s data, schools like Kent State University and Ohio State University have seen sharp increases in tuition prices since 2003. Kent State has gone from an average yearly tuition price of around $6,374 in 2003 to $12,845 this year, while Ohio State has gone from $5,691 per year in 2003 to $12,859 this year.

In Ohio, the tuition rates of public universities are decided and set by university-level boards, such as the Board of Trustees, and the boards take into account factors including state funding (per-student appropriations), rising institutional costs (salaries, maintenance, utilities), and incoming student enrollment rates.

“Per-student allocation from the state that pays for higher education has dropped,” van Lier said. “What this means is that students have to pay more of that in the form of tuition. Schools are getting less aid and less support in terms of public dollars from the state, and that means their option is they have to increase tuition.”

College tuition, alongside state funding, helps universities cover their expenses.

“A significant portion of tuition revenue is allocated to paying faculty and staff salaries, instructional materials, and other costs directly related to teaching and learning,” Aaron Horn, associate vice president of policy research at the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, said in an email. “Tuition revenue, along with other revenue sources, can help support a range of institutional needs, including administration, student support services (such as advising, counseling, career services, and mental health services), financial aid, campus maintenance and technology.”

Horn says the cost of these services has increased over time significantly, making tuition rates go up as well to help cover the cost. And when enrollment falls, university revenue does too.

“This total revenue influences how much an institution can invest in academic quality; student support services such as advising, tutoring, mental health services, and career counseling; infrastructure; and financial aid,” Horn said. “Institutions with higher and more stable revenue are generally better positioned to support positive student outcomes such as timely degree completion, whereas those facing revenue shortfalls may struggle to maintain the same level of support and quality.”

The increasing rates of higher education is impacting students to do more in order to afford schooling, including taking out loans and working more jobs.

“Around 70% of the students that we do work with do have college affordability issues, meaning that they do take out large amounts of loans in order to access school,” said Mary-Pat Hector, the CEO of Rise, a national nonprofit organization focused on politically empowering students. “And many of them do work two to three jobs in order to attend school.”

According to Urban Institute, 30-40% of undergraduate students take federal student loans in any given year, and the student loan debt in the United States is around $1.753 trillion. In 2019, about 36% of students took out student loans.

To work on lowering the student loan debt, in 2022 42.4% of full time undergraduate students have a job while enrolled in school. Five years ago, the percentage of undergraduate students with jobs while enrolled in school was similar at a 44.5% rate.

For van Lier, there is growing support to offset the tuition imbalance in the state, and one way to do that is to maximize the potential of state programs.

“One of the things we often highlight is the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), which is the state’s main way of providing need-based financial aid,” he said. “Ohio really should be changing how OCOG is structured, so people who choose the most affordable options for their post-secondary education are going to be able to access the OCOG money.”

The fight for truly affordable higher education rates is still ongoing for Hector, but she believes the fight is worth it.

“I think more individuals will be able to access, of course, school,” she said. “More of us will be able to compete globally with other countries that really value education and investing in the next generation of their citizens. And I think more Americans will be able to live out the American dream.”


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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An Eau Claire resident is speaking out about how federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could affect his life and his family's.

Oliver Winn and his parents all live with disabilities. He said Medicaid has allowed him to have surgeries that have improved his quality of life to such a degree, he no longer needs a wheelchair. It also helps him pay for medication which would otherwise cost $5,000 a month. Winn described the forthcoming federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP as "terrifying."

"It's going to change a lot of things for a lot of people, and I'm concerned for myself, I'm concerned for my family, my community," Winn explained. "Everyone is going to be affected by this and it's a very scary time to be living through."

It's estimated more than 276,000 people in Wisconsin could lose their Medicaid coverage and another 90,000 risk losing their SNAP benefits over the next decade.

One in eight people in Wisconsin depends on SNAP to help pay for groceries. Winn is one of them. Although he currently works overnight shifts, he noted he still needs SNAP to afford food for him and his child. Before he had Medicaid and SNAP, Winn added his high medical debts meant he struggled to keep up with food and housing expenses, which led him to become homeless.

"Because there's no way to balance trying to feed yourself, trying to pay off this debt and still have access to health care and rent," Winn stressed. "It's impossible, and I wish that the people writing these bills and enacting these policies could get a taste of the life that they're creating for other people."

Along with federal cuts, the Trump administration is implementing stricter work requirements for these programs in an effort to curb what it calls "welfare dependency." More than 45% of SNAP recipients in Wisconsin are in working families and the majority of Medicaid recipients in the state are part of the workforce.

Winn argued the rhetoric suggesting beneficiaries are lazy and unmotivated is not based in reality.

"We do and want to work," Winn emphasized. "Almost everyone I know is on Medicaid. My friends, my family that are capable of working are the hardest workers I know, because we have to work so hard to scrape out ends meet."


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The mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is voicing concerns about the state budget delay, warning it could affect the city's more than 58,000 residents.

Lawmakers missed the June 30 deadline for the fourth year in a row.

Danene Sorace, mayor of Lancaster, said she is closely monitoring both the state budget and the federal transportation, housing, and urban development budget coming before Congress today, noting both have significant implications for the city.

"There's been a significant reduction in federal funds that are coming to the state," Sorace pointed out. "How the state, in a divided House and Senate, reconcile these reductions in federal funding for Medicaid and address the other issues at hand, specifically equitable school funding, is yet to be determined."

Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state budget talks are making progress and expects a deal soon.

Sorace added since the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" has passed and the state must deal with reduced federal funding, Lancaster will likely experience losses in health care access. She explained the city is fortunate to have strong hospitals and community health systems, which is not always the case in rural areas.

"I think that long term, the impacts are going to be potentially more damaging," Sorace observed. "For our rural brethren in other parts of Pennsylvania and across the country, we're more concerned about their access to health care."

The new law slashes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding by $186 billion over the next decade, adding stricter work and reporting rules, threatening benefits for many Pennsylvanians.

Sorace emphasized food insecurity was already rising before the cuts and she now expects even more demand at local food pantries.

"Our nonprofit community is trying to figure out what the state is going to do to help fill those gaps," Sorace stressed. "Of course, we're very concerned about food insecurity, especially during the summer months, when kids aren't in school and don't have breakfast and lunch always available to them."

Sorace added she recently joined more than 200 mayors at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to discuss key issues, including housing and public safety. She underscored cities across the country are making progress on public safety, highlighting Lancaster's achievement of its lowest homicide rate since 1983.


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While cuts to food support programs and Medicaid gained attention as the debate over the budget bill went on, there is also a long-term likelihood it will result in automatic spending cuts to Medicare.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the reconciliation bill is projected to add more than $3 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. If the estimate is accurate, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act would require the executive branch to enact automatic spending cuts, including 4% annual cuts to Medicare starting in January, translating to around $500 billion in cuts over 10 years.

John Geer, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and co-director of the Vanderbilt Poll, said a spring survey found Tennesseans were broadly opposed to cuts.

"We ask about Tennesseans' willingness to support cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, veterans, etc.," Geer outlined. "And the truth of the matter is that Tennesseans are opposed to cuts in any of these programs. And it doesn't matter your partisan stripe, whether you're a liberal Democrat or a conservative MAGA-ite, you don't want to see these programs cut."

More than 1.5 million Tennesseans depend on Medicare. Congressional action would be needed to avoid automatic cuts, likely requiring a 60-vote majority in the Senate.

While funding to research under the National Institutes of Health would not be subjected to automatic cuts, the Department of Government Efficiency has already fired 2,500 researchers at the NIH and canceled more than 800 research grants. Geer's polling found more than 70% of Tennesseans oppose cutting funding for basic research.

"We asked a battery of questions about cutting research at universities, at hospitals, for drug discovery, etc., and again, there's partisan differences," Geer reported. "The MAGA folks, so to speak, are happy to do the cutting but the rest of the state has concerns."

The poll found 73% of Tennesseans support research at teaching hospitals and 66% supported research at universities.


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