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Tuition increases at Ohio University, Youngstown State, and Ohio State - amongst others – have been making headlines across Ohio in the past several weeks. Unfortunately, too few of these stories highlight the $500 million cut from higher education instruction in the 2012-13 state budget, and generally miss the boat on one of the key solutions: revenue (and it doesn’t have to come from selling off our public goods).
The state budget is all about choices. If we have $7 billion going out the door annually in loopholes, that’s $7 billion we don’t have to fund public universities. So when there are tax breaks for time shares for private jets – yes, private jets – there are less dollars for public education. If we raise revenue through big corporations and rich Ohioans paying their fair share, tuition increases could stop or be reduced. Or here’s a crazy idea – tuition could actually go down to make college more affordable for struggling Ohioans who haven’t seen wage increases in decades while the wealthiest Ohioans have done very, very well.
