Learn and Earn Amendment Certified: Free College Tuition in Ohio

 Today, the Ohio Learn & Earn amendment which will help bring nearly one billion dollars a year to Ohio children for college education and over $200 million in economic development has been approved by the Attorney General for circulation.

Scholarship dollars will be paid by revenue from slot machines at seven Ohio racetracks and two-downtown Cleveland locations. Unlike the lottery, all of the of the funds will be held by the Ohio Board of Regents in the Ohio Tuition Trust for use only by Ohio students bound for Ohio colleges or universities. The funds will be in each student’s name and will be forever protected from misspending politicians and state regulators.

Starting with the graduating class of 2008, the top 5% of graduating seniors will receive a scholarship equal to the average tuition of the state universities in Ohio. This scholarship can be applied to any accredited Ohio public or private not-for-profit institution of higher learning, authorized by the Ohio Board of regents, and having its principal office within the state. The amendment requires that at least the top 5% (but they plan to gradually increase this percentage) of the graduating seniors receive scholarships in the first 12 years of the program. After the fund has matured, approximately 12 years, every student who has graduated from an Ohio public, private or charter high school will be eligible to receive the scholarship as long as they meet the minimum requirements for admission to the university or college.

Free college tuition for Ohio’s high school graduates will be a tremendous benefit to Ohio’s economy. It will relieve the burden of high tuition payments on parents as well as the stress of loan repayments for young professionals joining the work place, in turn creating more expendable income for investment and the purchase of local goods and services.  It will reverse the effect of the “brain drain” in which young professionals are leaving the state. It will attract young families to the state increasing housing sales and new businesses. It will also create a more educated work force in Ohio, as eligible students will not be constrained from attending institutions of higher education due to financial difficulties.

Ohio Learn and Earn

Disclaimer: I am currently working as the Online Communications Director for the Ohio Learn and Earn Committee.