Ohio must foster competition in higher ed, stop favoring four-year degrees, policy expert says 

A new report by Ohio’s Buckeye Institute features numerous recommendations to help college education better equip the next generation.

“The reforms outlined in The Buckeye Institute’s report will foster competition in higher education, reduce academic overhead, and encourage students to pursue studies that yield stable incomes after graduation,” said Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at Buckeye and co-author of the Jan. 14 report, “Ohio’s future depends on change.”

Lawson’s main recommendation is to reimagine how education dollars are allocated.

The state currently prioritizes institutions with higher course and degree completion rates. But Lawson thinks they should factor in other metrics, such as the debt-to-earnings ratio of graduates, job placement rate and loan-default rate.  

And instead of focusing on four-year degrees, the report argues Ohio should fund students pursuing non-traditional degrees such as two-year associate’s programs or shorter certifications.  

Current Pell grant requirements, Lawson explains, make it effectively impossible for low-income students to receive aid in pursuing alternative degrees or credentials.  

“These steps will spur competition, lower taxpayer obligations, help low-income students, and give schools greater incentive to minimize student debt and prioritize occupational success,” he writes.  

Moreover, taxpayers should get more bang for their buck if their money is spent on programs with high success rates.  

Buckeye’s report also emphasizes the need to cut administrative spending, which is a problem in K-12 education as well.  

Prior research by Richard Vedder has shown that if the ratio of college administrators to professors were the same as in the 1970s, there would be 537,000 fewer administrators, student tuition could decrease by 20%, and universities would save over $30 billion annually.  

Other policy recommendations in the report include: 

• Restructure funding to allow community colleges to compete with four-year universities and vice versa. 

• Re-evaluate tenure at state universities to promote accountability.  

• Eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for government employees. 

Lawson also makes a controversial suggestion for the federal government: He recommends mandating that colleges and universities cover portions of missed student loan payments, forcing them to share the risk of loan defaults with the taxpayers.  

While it may have negative effects – such as artificial grade inflation – it would also hold institutions accountable for the rising costs of education and encourage them to axe programs that don’t lead to good jobs.  

“Ohio taxpayers, students, and employers cannot afford the collegiate status quo,” Lawson concludes. “State and federal reforms are sorely needed to address the rising costs that result in crushing student debt to pay for underperforming programs that fail to deliver on the great promise of higher education.”