“Chancellor Fingerhut has kept his promise. At least, he has so far. Fingerhut previously said he was committed to improving Ohio universities and giving them more opportunities for excellence. Fingerhut announced the latest developments in Strickland’s plans for Ohio education last week.”
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Chancellor Fingerhut has kept his promise.

At least, he has so far.

Fingerhut previously said he was committed to improving Ohio universities and giving them more opportunities for excellence.

Fingerhut announced the latest developments in Strickland’s plans for Ohio education last week. Although his primary concern was the budget, he mentioned many subjects such as book prices and program development.

We have a very serious responsibility to demonstrate that higher education can really make a difference, he said.

Overall Budget

According to Fingerhut, state governors normally place higher education near the top of their list of state-funded projects to cut when faced with economic turmoil.

This is not the case with Strickland.

Fingerhut explained that the Ohio budget operates on a two year cycle, the last of which was passed in July 2007.

The budget included record increases for higher education, he said. It made the tuition freeze possible, and the governor specifically protected higher education from any cuts.

Even though Ohio revenues are down, it seems that, at least right now, Ohio universities are safe.

Governor Strickland is serious about higher education, Fingerhut said. He will not sacrifice the budget set aside for the universities.

We hope it sends a strong message to students that we really are in a long term commitment to making higher education affordable and accessible.

Program Development

Another way Fingerhut hopes to improve Ohio schools, as he mentioned in October, is through the further development of programs that are already nationally ranked within Ohio schools.

According to Fingerhut, funding for Ohio universities is based on enrollment growth. Although the University of Akron with its current highest freshman class ever benefits from this mentality, universities such as OSU do not.

We need to look at the missions of each university, Fingerhut said. A one-size fits all funding system doesn’t work.

A solution according to Fingerhut is for each university to develop programs that have national and international rankings.

You can’t be internationally ranked in everything, he added. The University of Akron is good in polymers, for example. We want all of our schools to be nationally and internationally ranked in something, rather than focusing on everything.

Tuition Freeze

One main question students are asking is, what happens after the tuition freeze?

Fingerhut said Strickland was committed to maintaining it as long as possible. Afterwards, any tuition increase would be tied to commitments about financial aid.

We want college to be affordable for everyone, he said. We’re certainly not going back to the days of nine percent tuition increases.

Textbook Prices

One of the main concerns of college students is the constantly rising prices of textbooks. According to Fingerhut, that worry is shared by Strickland and himself.

A conference is tentatively being held this summer to address the issue of high textbook prices.

We need to come up with a comprehensive plan to reduce the cost of textbooks, Fingerhut said. The point of the University System of Ohio is to use the combined power together to solve a problem.

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