Private Ohio universities promoting DEI may soon face state scholarship restrictions
Ohio lawmakers are considering a state budget change that would prevent Governor’s Merit Scholarship students from attending private universities promoting DEI.
Gov. Mike DeWine launched the scholarship in 2023 with the aim of keeping native Ohio students in-state.
Ohio legislators are considering a state budget change that would apply pressure to private universities upholding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill last month prohibiting DEI offices and initiatives at public state universities. Now, state House lawmakers reportedly want to discourage private universities from maintaining such initiatives as well by restricting the Governor’s Merit Scholarship.
The scholarship, launched in 2023, is intended to keep academically-successful native Ohio students in-state by offering $5,000 for each year of college to the top 5 percent of each high school class.
Over 20 percent of scholarship students attend private universities.
“With so many world-class higher education institutions in Ohio, we want to encourage all students to stay in-state as they continue their education and transition into careers,” DeWine said at the time. “Ohio is truly the heart of opportunity, and we want all Ohioans to find the path that is right for them, right here at home.”
The proposed change to the state budget would make private university participation in the scholarship contingent on following the same requirements as public universities.
Requirements include “Adopting a policy containing specified requirements and prohibitions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), intellectual diversity, and other concepts at the institution.”
Senate Bill 1, which bans DEI initiatives at public universities, is set to take effect in June. The proposed budget change would not apply to students who have already received the scholarship.
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Ohio State Rep. Tom Young argued that if a private university receives state money, the state’s standards for education should apply to it.
“When you’re getting state dollars, you fall under the same laws as anybody else does,” Young told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Meanwhile, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio has condemned the idea.
The organization of private colleges wrote that it is “disappointed that Ohio House leadership is telling Ohio’s best and brightest students that their only choice for higher education will be a public university by placing unrealistic burdens for participation on Ohio’s independent colleges.”
Campus Reform contacted Rep. Tom Young and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
