Ohio State the Most Unequal Public University in America?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
1

Read this article by John Weiner. Since I am an OSU grad, I read articles about OSU occasionally.

According to the article, “ The “most unequal” public university in America… is Ohio State. Between 2010 and 2012 it paid its president, Gordon Gee, a total of almost $6 million, while raising tuition and fees so much that student debt grew 23 percent faster than the national average.”

“ The only people on campus worse off than students with loans are the part-time faculty members—and they too were worst off at schools with the highest paid presidents. OSU, while paying its president $5.9 million, focused its faculty hiring on low wage part-timers, hiring 498 contingent and part-time but only forty-five permanent faculty members.”

I also read an article a couple of months ago about students protesting that the university board members run the university like a for-profit university and students were protesting various issues they felt were tied to that approach to education,

If my child were headed off to OSU, I would be concerned about the high number of part-time faculty and that there seemed to be a number of professors who are being paid measly wages.

Just thought I would bring up the present situation of a corporate-like run university for discussion as I think Alumni and future OSU students might be interested in this.

2

People always complain about a brain drain from the midwest . . . well I wonder why?

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@momofsmartdancer and SouthFloridaMom9 I question why you are bringing up an outdated article about 2010-2012? You do know that Gordon Gee was let go and that there has been an in-state tuition freeze for in-state students for the fifth consecutive year now, under a new President Michael Drake? The Ohio State University is one of the most affordable research universities. It is ranked #54 in National University rankings by USNews&WR, #90 in Times Higher Education World Rankings and highly ranked in numerous other publications. I can’t respond to the number of part time can full time faculty but the quality of education students receive there is excellent. The amount of money the school has poured into academic and recreational and dormitory facilities has been very noticeable. It is a world class University. Applications were over 50,000 last year as it is one of the most sought after University in the country. So I don’t know what you are trying to get at here?

4

Yes Gee is gone now and Drake makes a lot less money. I also think the rise of OSU academically and athletically will bring in more money than a few years ago.

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It’s clear that OSU is leaning toward becoming a for-profit institution based on the mandatory meal plans and sophomores being forced to live on campus. Yes, other schools do this, but that does not excuse the additional costs that place an even greater burden on low-income students. There are plenty of other universities that do not require students to live on campus and that employ VOLUNTARY meal plans (and indeed, all university meal plans are a complete waste of money). It is frustrating to see a university with such genuinely well-meaning faculty and staff be brought down by the drive for profit, although part of the money-grubbing may be based on OSU’s need to sustain its lavish lifestyle and fund renovations to draw in more students.

Don’t get me wrong–Ohio State is an excellent institution with faculty members that want nothing short of the best for their students. I only wish that students could pay the sticker price of coursework without being blindsided by thousands of dollars in additional costs left and right. Thanks for starting this discussion.

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@blackcanyon While it is okay to have a discussion it is not okay to have an obnoxious and false and misleading title to this thread, which calls into question the motivation of the Original Poster (OP). Re: the 2 year living on campus requirement, research supports that there are significant benefits for students who live on campus, such as more social interaction with peers and faculty, thus allowing students to become more engaged and vested in their area of study, more likely to be involved co-curricular activities and use of campus facilities, higher satisfaction of students, added safety and security, and more overall support, which leads to higher retention and graduation rates. Additionally, OSU has an excellent First-Year Experience Program and a Second Year STEP (Second-Year Transformational Experience) Program that involves students engaged in a project that enhances their learning and development. Re: additional costs, note that Ohio State costs of attendance is lower than almost every other Big 10 University and provides excellent value in comparison to other national top-ranked research universities. And regarding diversity and low income students, Ohio State has a robust Office of Diversity and Inclusion , including a renown Morrill Scholars program that provides over 300 scholarships, many full cost of attendance. This is in addition to several other scholarships, like the National Buckeye, offered to out of state students, to keep costs comparable to in-state. All the above, including all the wise investment in improving infrastructure (not lavish spending) as contributed to the Ohio State University’s rise in stature and climb in the rankings and increase in student rates of retention, graduation and satisfaction!

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``Gee is gone now and Drake makes a lot less money’’

Absolutely - at 800K per year, Drake is close to having to stand in line for foodstamps … at least he feels so looking at the salary Gee made. More seriously, he was making under 400K as the head of the university (called Chancellor) at UC Irvine. A smaller school, but somewhat higher ranked academically, and in a much higher cost of living area as compared to Columbus.

Many state schools giving top administrators about 25-50% on top of their most productive and senior faculty (not including medical school salaries). At Ohio State, it is about 2-3 times the salary of top-end faculty.

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@Trackmbe3-
“While it is okay to have a discussion it is not okay to have an obnoxious and false and misleading title to this thread, which calls into question the motivation of the Original Poster (OP)”

I simply put the title of the article as the heading of the discussion post. It is worded pretty strongly- not really my words though. So, I have no idea what you are hinting at here about my motivation. I will tell you that it is my belief that there is always room for improvement. Since the author of this article and the students protesting feel very strongly that there is a need for improvement and change in this area, I thought it was worthy of discussion. As a third-generation OSU grad, I hope to see OSU improve as an honorable academic institution that does not put at the top of its priority using a business-run model to achieve its goals. We all know of examples where boards of major corporations have done some unethical things to move their company up. Most recent would be Wells Fargo.

When I was at OSU in the 1980s, their ethics were being examined by the State of Ohio for having a policy of transfer credit which disallowed nearly all courses taken at Columbus Community College to transfer. In essence, a monopoly on higher education in the Columbus area was created by this policy. It maximized income for OSU through practically having a monopoly on tuition as well as garnering a very high matching contribution from the state for each enrolled student. The 4 year graduation rate was abysmal. The State of Ohio passed some laws/ rules forcing greater accountability in the area of increasing graduation rates and also requiring OSU to give credit for some community college coursework. As a result of this scrutiny and the resulting changes employed by OSU, their rankings improved.

Although you may think OSU is above scrutiny because they have made positive changes, I think scrutiny is essential for continued positive growth. So, that is my motive for posting information regarding this article and the student protests.

9

My daughter goes to school here and is a freshman. She would live at home since we’re 20 minutes from campus, but I happen to agree with OSU in their belief that living on campus ensures success. So we pay room AND board (yes, even the ridiculously priced meal plan) because in the long run, it’s the quality of the educational experience that matters to me.

She’s at a pretty high caliber institute of higher learning, and living on campus when she could knock about $11k off of her expenses by living at home and commuting. But that’s a choice we made. And others have a choice as well. Don’t like the 2 year requirement? Don’t go here. Don’t like the meal plans? Don’t go here. It is what it is. But what it isn’t is unequal. Cincinnati is no cheaper to attend. What does their president make? He posts selfies with students all day and not as many of their programs perform as highly as OSU’s. Why even bother posting this? Either you want a degree from here or you don’t. And if you do, take the good with the bad and get it!

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``And others have a choice as well. Don’t like the 2 year requirement? Don’t go here. Don’t like the meal plans? Don’t go here. ‘’

`` Either you want a degree from here or you don’t. And if you do, take the good with the bad and get it! ‘’

This would have been a fine argument for a private university, but taxpayers for Ohio have the right to ask questions on the operations/costs of a public university in their state. Just like State can (and does) control in-state tuition, it has the authority to look into aspects of affordability of a state school: meal plans, residency requirements, and so on.

Now, I am not saying that Ohio State is not affordable or doing all unreasonable things. The problem is that legislature/governor is bent on keeping tuition low, with no increases for a while, and University is looking for other ways to raise revenue. They have given 2% average raise to faculty and staff in each of the last 3 years, while not increasing in-state tuition a penny. The 6% gap isn’t something that can somehow be absorbed, and is coming in other ways. Heck … even trash pickup from my (faculty) office has been impacted. But I am grateful for the 2% raises …

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Here are some comments about the sophomore requirement to live on campus following an article in The Lantern:

Jz
October 10, 2013 at 7:19 am

Horrible idea. Just another excuse for the university to gouge more money out of students. $3600 yearly meal plan + $5000 in “rent”? Just add it to the student loan debt.
Reply

A Concerned Alumni
October 10, 2013 at 12:29 pm

In addition to the extra high cost of living on campus another disadvantage of on-campus living, in my opinion, is the requirement that all students MUST move out over breaks and over the summer if they are not enrolled. If they are like I was, I stayed in Columbus and worked extra hours over breaks & summer so that I could save more money for the already high cost of tuition and fees just to get by. I certainly would not have been able to afford college if I had not done so. There were no decent jobs in the rural Ohio town that I was from. Now they want to burden the students with EXTRA expenses AND as an added bonus, take away potential working opportunities for many students by forcing them to move back home during breaks? Have they really fully considered this?
Reply

unknown
October 11, 2013 at 3:01 am

What a stupid idea. I’m a student and I stayed for 3 years, I benefited nothing, I was forced to pay the 500 for facility fee which is the fee for the Meal plans but I didn’t get one. Basically I got charged even when I never went inside any of the food places. This is so ridiculous. The stupid school officials never talked to the students, they just decided on their own because they decided their six figure income was still not good enough.
Reply

http://www.brookstone.com
November 30, 2013 at 10:59 pm

Great article.
Reply

Jordan R
October 23, 2014 at 5:12 pm

Another gouge of the students.
Less government please.
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Jordan R
October 23, 2014 at 5:18 pm

Great point by A Concerned Alumni.
Forcing sophomores to stay on campus at high cost but move back home on breaks and summer is just as bad as the state telling kids where they must live. Not only does this cost more, but it takes away the flexibility students need to afford the ever rising tuition costs.
I too am an alumni – 9 years out. This is an awful idea.

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``And others have a choice as well. Don’t like the 2 year requirement? Don’t go here. Don’t like the meal plans? Don’t go here. ‘’

This is a state University paid for by the residents of Ohio and set up for their benefit. If OSU has enacted policies that make the university unaffordable, these students have every right to oppose this change.

I lived at home or off campus for all years except my freshman year. I was eligible for some scholarships through NMF program at other universities, but I was not sure my parents would be able to help me pay for room & board all four years. So, I chose OSU since I knew I could pay tuition and live at home, if necessary. Why should Ohio students who can’t afford room and board be denied an education at OSU because of rooming requirements?

Also of note is that my grades were higher when I lived off campus and that I felt the quieter environment was more conducive to studying.

My husband got his undergrad and grad degrees in engineering from OSU. He was one of five kids of parents who were MDs. They had a big house in Arlington and refused to pay room and board as they had 5 kids to put through college and they had it pretty good at home- so why live in a crappy dorm?. He did very well living at home. He lived at home for both his undergrad and grad years, with the exception of having an off campus apartment for one year of grad school.

Furthermore- when I lived in the dorms my freshman year, I lived in Morrill tower and had four room-mates and 16 of us in a suite. There was so much stuff going on all the time, I got very little sleep. The food was the worst I have ever had in my life. And, I am not a picky eater; I actually really liked school lunches. Because they had little variety, I eventually stopped eating at the cafeteria and would mainly eat on the weekends at a job I had at a restaurant. BTW- the restaurant I worked at was off campus and being on campus pretty much restricted me to working only on the weekends. Once I moved off campus, I was able to work 3 days/ week, which did help. Oh- and then there were the daily cold showers. The water pressure was so high in the showers it was like getting underneath a fire hose and the hot water ran out quickly. After 3/16 suite-mates took showers in the morning, there was no hot water left. I see no reason why students should be forced to pay more to live on campus if either they can’t afford it, it interferes with earning money for college, or they feel they can achieve their highest potential by living in a quieter atmosphere.

While I am sure things have improved at OSU as far as room and meals are concerned, I still do not believe that a one size fits all mentality is best for all students at the university.

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BTW- living at home or off-campus and working seems like it worked out for both my husband and I as we both graduated with $0.00 debt.

As in “ZERO”!

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@momofsmartdancer Rather than promote a constructive discussion you do a disservice to your fellow Alumni and future students by insensitively repeating a grossly inaccurate title in your discussion thread and an inaccurate and misleading article that is also outdated by virtue of its focus on an a time period 2010-2012 under a President that was ousted. You lost me with the title of your thread. Reducing any credibility with whatever you said later. There are other State Universities that are “corporate-run” for profit–just look at your Pennsylvania neighbors (PSU and Pitt) whose instate tuition is over 50% higher than OSU or your neighbor up North in A2. You should count your blessings to have Ohio State as your in-state University. You take it for granted.

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@momofsmartdancer - that’s awesome!

I lived off campus all three years at OSU, worked full-time for one of the years, and part-time for two. And when I started, I had a 3 year old. It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t as expensive as my other options in town either. But the thing is, I had a choice. The 2 year requirement is only in place for those living outside a certain radius, as is the case with most schools.

So yeah, as an alumni (not as a person speaking on behalf of the university), I say if you don’t like it, don’t go here - choose somewhere else. My DD’s tuition is not much more than mine was, and regardless of the ways they are trying to increase revenue, I tend to think it’s still a good value. Everyone’s entitled to their opinions on this, but my personal thought is that it’s a d*** fine university for the price. Inflated meal plans and housing costs aside. YMMV.

16

Simple solution: attend a different university if OSU is so bad.

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The Ohio State University is a $6.1B business with 44000 employees. In the private sector you would be hard pressed to find someone who was willing to run that size of business, and run it well, for $800K a year.

OSU struck quite a bargain here.

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``The Ohio State University is a $6.1B business with 44000 employees. In the private sector you would be hard pressed to find someone who was willing to run that size of business, and run it well, for $800K a year. OSU struck quite a bargain here. ‘’

Comparable state schools are being led by presidents making significantly less. It is too early to tell about the outcomes with Drake, but under Gee, OSU was slipping in ranking on the size of endowment (i.e., though it was adding money, other school did it at a faster rate and jumped higher in the size of endowment). This is when he was paid a lot more than other presidents, had perks like traveling in first-class and in private jets. Presidents of schools like Michigan and UNC Chapell Hill did not have the same salary or benefits, but led comparable sized and higher ranked schools.

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@bucks724. Kudos to you for making it through a challenging school while having a little one :).

OSU is a da** good school and has a great reputation overall (esp. with sports). Whenever anyone I work with finds out that I am an OSU grad, they seem to be impressed. It has that name brand recognition that helps a person’s career.

However, I am very knowledgeable about OSU since I grew up in the area, grandparents on both sides went to OSU, one went to dentistry school there and another was Phd scientist and head of dept at OSU, one was Asst. Registrar, one was secretary to the head of the athletic dept, parents went there as did most of the rest of my extended family.

So, I have some good background knowledge about the good and the bad at OSU. Again, just because they have gone up in the US News ranking does not mean they are above scrutiny. Although the article is older and Gee is now gone, an article I read about the board of directors indicate little change has been made in that area. The Board of Directors remains the same and hence the leadership is changed only by one person.

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The Ohio State University has ~65000 students. Which college president at an institution of comparable size and stature is getting considerably less?

Here are a couple of data points. Arizona State has a lower rank but a higher number of students. Its President, Michael Crow, made $1M last year. The University of Michigan has fewer students but a higher ranking. Its President had a base salary of $871000 last year.

Your turn.