McDavis Excited About Proposed State Funding Formula

Ohio University President Roderick McDavis attended a press conference Friday where Gov. John Kasich presented a new higher education funding formula that McDavis helped recommend.The proposed formula will shift funding from enrollment rates to graduation rates by individual universities and colleges. Graduation rates currently account for 20 percent of state share of instruction – the new formula will raise that number to 50 percent.The proposal came from a commission formed by Gov. Kasich consisting of Ohio public higher education institution presidents. Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee headed the commission.The proposal still needs to be passed by the state legislature to be signed into law.President McDavis said the shift in focus to degree completion will reward higher education, specifically Ohio University, and that the governor’s hope is that state funding for higher education will not be cut.The new formula, which McDavis said, “moves away from head count,” will push universities to create more incentives for degree completion.“All of us will try to work hard to create incentives for students to get to the finish line,” McDavis said, commenting that the new funding model will hold higher education institutions accountable for students graduating.When asked if President McDavis expects the formula to benefit OU – increasing the state share of instruction – he said he expects it to increase over time.“We feel pretty good about our current graduation rate,” said McDavis, “but we could feel better about it and we could do a better job.”“As our graduation rate increases, so should our funding rate,” he said.McDavis also said that the new formula would hopefully encourage graduates to stay in Ohio after completing their degrees. “We think this forges a stronger partnership between the business and industry community and higher education,” McDavis said.“We are going to work as far as we can to ensure that the right kinds of jobs are there to keep more of our graduates in the state of Ohio.”McDavis said there are more conversations to come between Ohio University and its regional campuses to figure out how the new formula will affect funding.“We don’t anticipate that every student that gets into one of our programs will finish, but we want to create more opportunities at our regional campuses,” he said. “We are still here to provide what the citizens of the state need, whether it be a course or a degree.”McDavis echoed Gee’s remarks that the new formula is “a historic moment for higher education, for the state of Ohio and for students and parents who are benefiting the most,” he said.