Ohio’s Higher Ed Policy Failing Minorities, Women, Working Class Families

This report was originally released on December 7, 2017.
By Dr. Luke Frederick, Georgetown University Ph.D. and Fellow with the Ohio Student Association.

As Ohio goes, so goes the nation. This phrase is normally applied to presidential races, but it is also thought to represent the notion that Ohio is a microcosm of the nation. In terms of student debt and higher education policy, Ohio is not doing well, and neither is the nation. Outstanding student debt is now the second largest debt category in the United States at $1.3 trillion, second only mortgage debt. Debt of this size could easily push us towards another financial implosion in the near future as the debt gets bought and sold as default rates rise—similar to the 2008 financial crisis. More importantly, at this very moment student debt is causing very real hardships for hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. Outstanding debt in the state is currently around $20 billion, and is held by nearly 700,000 current or former borrowers….

We must take immediate action on the state level to improve our system of higher education because all signs from the federal level point to a worsening of the problem rather than a remedy on the horizon. Thankfully, there are very real measures that Ohio could take to lessen the cost of higher education, reduce the growth of student debt, increase the support of women and minority students, reign in the abuse at the hands of FPCs, and as a result of these, improve the state economy.

The full report is available online here.

On Tuesday, December 12th, report author Luke Frederick and OSA Executive Director Prentiss Haney hosted a Facebook Live discussion of the report. The discussion can be viewed here.

Formed in 2012, Ohio Student Association is a statewide organization led by young people. OSA engages in values-based issue & electoral organizing, nonviolent direct action, advocacy for progressive public policy, and leadership development. On campuses and communities in across Ohio, we organize young people to build independent political power.