Scholarships of up to $10,000 each would go to students who rank in the top 5 percent of their high school class, hold a grade point average of 3.8 or above, earn high scores on standard college entrance exams and enroll in an Ohio public university, he said.
The goal would be to entice Ohio’s brightest students to stay in the Buckeye State and to lure the best out-of-state students, Petro said.
Officials from Miami, Ohio State, Ohio and Wright State universities, however, said they need to know more details about what it would mean to become an enterprises institution.
“We would have to see a final product before making a decision,” said Ohio University President Roderick McDavis.
Wright State University Provost Steven Angle said university officials are taking a serious look at the plan and seeking more information.
“I don’t think anybody knows for sure whether they’ll become (an enterprise university) because the criteria are not clear yet. This is a work in progress,” he said Thursday. “I think there is general unanimous support across the state endorsing the concept of enterprise universities, and we’re all looking forward to working with our chancellor to flesh out the details of the plan.”
Miami University President David Hodge said he is supportive of the direction of Ohio’s plan. “We think that the idea of getting rid of mandates and regulations that are not helping us do our jobs is a good idea,” he said. “What we’re looking to do is do our public jobs better and do more to help Ohio move forward.”
The plan calls for asking the General Assembly to grant some mandate relief to all 14 universities and granting more freedom to those who agree to become either enterprise universities or international enterprise universities.
Petro told reporters that he’d like the Legislature to act by May 1 so that changes could begin next fiscal year.
Petro, however, said they have no estimate on how much money universities would save through mandate relief and whether that would make up for the money that schools would direct into the scholarship program.
“As universities become more lean and nimble, I think it’s fair to say money will be saved,” Petro said. Petro noted that the plan is a starting point for discussion.
Just 26 percent of Ohio adult workers hold college degrees; Petro said he wants Ohio to reach the national average of 31 percent.
One university official questioned Petro how earmarking scholarships for the brightest students — who are already highly likely to get college degrees — would help average students and low-income students.
The new chancellor said Ohio is pushing universities to come up with paths to three-year bachelor degrees, has a program for high school seniors to take college level courses, and has made progress in making sure that community college credits transfer when students move up to four-year institutions. All of those programs help control costs, he said.
Undergraduate tuition, excluding fees, averages $9,200 a year at Ohio’s public universities. Lawmakers capped tuition increases at 3.5 percent for the next two years and limited increases for community colleges at $200 for each year.
Whether enterprise universities would be relieved of tuition caps remains to be seen. Petro said his hunch is that the General Assembly will not want to give up the power to set caps.
Enterprise universities would enter agreements with the Board of Regents to reach certain benchmarks. International enterprise universities would be required to meet at least seven of nine benchmarks, such as a five-year graduation rate of 75 percent, an endowment of 30 percent of total operating expenses, research expenditures of $250 million or more and 20 percent of full-time students participating in internships or co-op jobs. Petro said Ohio State University and possibly Miami University and University of Cincinnati could qualify for international enterprise status right now.
Staff Writer Meagan Engle contributed to this report.
About the Author
