Ohio State Must Reshape Higher Education to Meet the Needs of the Twenty-First Century » Research » Buckeye Institute

Columbus, Ohio — The Buckeye Institute testified on Wednesday (see full transcript below or Download the PDF) before the Ohio Senate Committee on Workforce and Higher Education on Certain Policies in Ohio Senate Bill 83 and “Reshaping Ohio’s Higher Education System to Meet the Needs of the Twenty-First Century.”

In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a scholar at the Buckeye Institute, praised America’s higher education system stating that it “has always been the envy of the world,” and pointed to policies in Senate Bill 83 that could “help address some of its problems.” Ohio’s higher education system”, including “a reaffirmation of a commitment to free and open intellectual inquiry, independent thought, and a diversity of viewpoints”; Reducing “Doubtful mandatory exercises; Require robust post-service reviews; extend the same labor negotiation procedures set forth in the Public Safety Statute and certain public health workers to university faculty; and ensure that course curricula are transparent and available to the public.

Lawson went on to urge lawmakers to adopt additional policies that would reshape Ohio’s higher education system to meet the needs of the 21st century, including:

• cover bloated administrative expenses that make college more affordable for families and taxpayers and focus spending on preparing and equipping students for the challenges of the 21st century workplace;
• Reasonably restrict the university’s non-educational expenditures and align the state’s share of education allowances for two- and four-year institutions with better results after graduation; And
• The financial reward for schools that graduate students with better debt-to-earnings ratios and better workforce credentials.

Lawson closed by encouraging lawmakers to “take a page out of the school selection guide and give vouchers directly to students rather than just subsidizing colleges.” Lawson noted that this would harness the “transformative power of the free market that empowers students and incentivizes universities to compete for students and for dollars.”

# # #

Reforming higher education to secure Ohio’s future

Certificate of the interested party
Ohio Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee
Ohio Senate Bill 83

Greg R Lawson, Research Fellow
Buckeye Institute
April 19, 2023

Ready to deliver

President Serino, Vice President Rowley, Ranking Member Ingram, and the panelists, thank you for the opportunity to testify in connection with reshaping Ohio’s higher education system to meet the needs of the 21st century.

My name is Greg R Lawson. I’m a Research Fellow at the Buckeye Institute, an independent educational and research institution — a think tank — whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.


American higher education has long been the envy of the world. Unfortunately, high costs of education, administrative bloating, codes of speech, and a lack of ideological academic diversity have discredited higher education for properly preparing the next generation. Many of these problems are systemic or cultural and will not be solved with policy changes overnight. But policy reforms can play a role and Senate Code 83 Lays a solid foundation on which to build.

For example, the bill strengthens support for the First Amendment by amending the university’s mission statements to positively emphasize a commitment to free and open intellectual inquiry, independent thought, and a diversity of viewpoints. The bill will be reduced Doubtful Is mandatory Campus rehearsals smell Forced speech And it proved Ineffective and counterproductive while also going on Criticize By leading academics in the field of implicit bias. These and other reforms have unfortunately become necessary because 80 percent of the students surveyed a report Self-censorship, visiting professors and lecturers are notorious he shouted down or administratively punish For their opinions or violating campus “speech codes”. Such incidents undermine taxpayers’ confidence that their public colleges and universities remain intellectually diverse and open to the honest exchange of ideas.

Senate Bill 83 would also improve faculty hiring policies over time by requiring robust post-term reviews. Tenure provides significant benefits to faculty and students insofar as it provides rigorous academic debate, intellectual inquiry, and independent research. But tenure can also protect employees who stifle academic inquiries and debate, and contribute to ballooning payrolls by to fail To align financial incentives with job performance. To improve tenure policies, the bill requires an ex post review of faculty who earn a degree “Does not meet performance expectations” Evaluation within the same category evaluated for two out of three consecutive years. This will help as far as it goes, but a more robust fix would be better. Florida, for example, recently passed legislation Mandate five-year reviews for all tenure-track faculty, regardless of annual evaluation assessments. Such reviews – if done carefully and without compromising academic freedom – can help maintain faculty accountability and stimulate productivity. Rather, as did Dr. Richard Feder Proposaltenure could become an optional component of faculty compensation, allowing universities to pay more for those who are Voluntarily, of your own free will Choose not to accept Possession Protection.

Other notable improvements include not allowing public university faculty to strike and expanding the scope of public university faculty legal negotiation procedures that public safety and some public health workers use it; and ensuring that the curricula of courses in public universities are transparent and available to the public.


These are timely steps in the right direction, but several more steps should be taken by the General Assembly.

Ohio should put a cap on bloated administrative expenses at state universities that are making college more affordable for families and taxpayers. American Board of Trustees and Alumni is found that from 2010 to 2018, the cost of non-educational spending grew three times faster than classroom spending. Ohio State University, you only take one Example, has approximately 132 employees in the diversity, equity, and inclusion offices alone at a cost of $13.4 million annually. Whatever their merits, these are not educational jobs to prepare and equip students for the challenges of 21^street Century workplace, but they add to the education bill.


If state-funded universities wish to receive generous support from taxpayers, the General Assembly must reasonably restrict university expenditures. Schools that exceed these limits must see their SSI reduced by an equal amount. Ohio should also align state funding streams for two- and four-year SSIs with better postgraduate outcomes, materially rewarding schools that graduate students with better debt-to-earnings ratios and better workforce credentials.

A more dramatic reform might take a page out of the school choice rulebook and give vouchers directly to students rather than just subsidizing colleges. Policymakers should not underestimate the transformative power of the free market that empowers students and incentivizes universities to compete for students and dollars rather than relying on an opaque and complex subsidy formula.

Senate Bill 83 should help address some of the problems plaguing Ohio’s higher education system, but there is still a lot of work to do to lower costs, align institutional incentives, and better prepare our students for the future that lies ahead.

Thank you for your time and attention. I will be happy to answer any questions the committee may have.

# # #