Ohio

Funding priorities for p-12 and higher education

Primary and Secondary Education

Ohio public school funding for FY 2020 and FY 2021 is expected to increase from $9.7 billion in FY 2019, to $10.08 billion and $10.11 respectively. Gov. Mike DeWine is prioritizing on "student wellness and success" by investing $650 million in FY 2020 and FY 2021 for schools to spend on mentoring, mental-health counseling, wraparound supports and after-school programs.

Higher Education

Priorities include, among others: affordability, college completion, reducing institutional program operating costs, College Credit Plus, and workforce development. The 2018 state budget appropriated $2.56 billion to higher education and $2.59 billion in 2019 or a 1.40 percent increase. Funding for Higher Education in FY 2020 and FY 2021 will increase to $2.68 billion and $2.77 billion respectively. The budget limits the increases to in-state undergraduate tuition to two percent per year, with certain fee increases to the approval of the Department of Higher Education (DHE). Funding for the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), a need-based student financial aid program increases by 21.2 percent per year to $122.3 million in FY 2020 and $148.2 million in FY 2021.

Changes to funding formula for p-12 and higher education

Primary and Secondary Education

• • 612 regular school districts, 49 joint vocational school districts, and approximately 370 public community schools are funded through the Ohio foundation program.

• • $10.0 billion in FY 2020 and $10.1 billion in FY 2021 to primary and secondary education.

• • The budget provides GRF funding of $57.2 million in FY 2020 and $71.0 million in FY 2021, increases of 20.0 percent and 24.1 percent, respectively, for the income-based EdChoice expansion. These increases are used to provide additional scholarships as the program expands to 6th grade in FY 2020 and 7th grade in FY 2021. The budget maintains previous maximum amounts of $6,000 per high school student and $4,650 per elementary school student for both EdChoice and Cleveland Scholarship programs.

• • The budget provides lottery funding of $30 million per year for a new Quality Community School Support initiative. This funding will be distributed to a community school designated as a Community School of Quality on a per pupil basis ($1,750 for each economically disadvantaged student and $1,000 for each student who is non-economically disadvantaged).

• • According to the Ohio Department of Education, the EdChoice Scholarship Program provides up to 60,000 state-funded scholarships to students who attend low-performing public school buildings. Scholarship must be used to attend private schools that meet requirements for program participation. The EdChoice scholarship amount is currently $4650 for grades K-8 and $6000 for grades 9-12.

• • Special education allocation for FY 2020 is $454.7 million and $455 million in FY 2021.

• • Career-technical education basic grant $9.6 million in FY 2019. That amount is decreased in FY 2020 and FY 2021 to $9.4 million.

• • Expansion of an income-based scholarship program for students to attend private schools. The EdChoice program, estimated to cost $47.7 million in FY 2019 would increase to $57.2 million in FY 2020, and to $71 million in FY 2021—annual increases of 20 percent and 24.1 percent.

• • Additional money for community schools, often referred to as charter schools, with new funding of $30 million for those designated as schools of quality. The additional funding for the private-school scholarships and community school quality awards total $83 million over two years.

Higher Education

Ohio remains one of the few states with a 100 percent outcomes-based higher education funding formula without any general enrollment metric except for full time enrollment (FTE) in medical programs.

• • For 2018 and 2019, undergraduate tuition for public universities and regional campuses is was frozen at the 2017 level. In FY 2020, the budget allows increases to in-state undergraduate tuition to two percent per year, with certain fee increases to the approval of the Department of Higher Education (DHE).

• • The budget increases overall funding for the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), a need...