By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If you're the parent of a University of Cincinnati student, you're shelling out 46 percent more in tuition payments this year than you were four years ago.

At Miami University, it's 32 percent more.

Those who have contributed to Ohio's guaranteed prepaid tuition plan have had five increases in the cost of credits since last October. And most recently, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave the state a failing grade in affordability.

With the state contribution to higher education sharply lower and tuition at state universities on a steep rise, the cost of college is squarely in the debate for who's going to be the next governor.

"The cost of tuition is too high,'' Sylvester Awls said. "It's just too much per credit hour. It would help to have some kind of subsidy or tax credit. The state has the money to do it without putting the penalty on the parents.''

Mr. Awls, a 53-year-old accounting supervisor from Toledo, has had to bear double-digit increases for three children attending Ohio colleges. His son Justin is a senior communications major at UC.

But Mr. Awls doesn't support a tax increase to pay for it.

WHERE THEY STAND

Bob Taft • Increase state funding of higher education as of July 1, 2003. • Focus on access to higher education. Continue to keep tuition low at the two-year institutions. • Link businesses to college and university research to spur economic development. Tim Hagan • Restore funding cuts to higher education. • Establish an Ohio HOPE scholarship program modeled on the Georgia program. • Propose that any new funding allocated by the state to university research be strongly linked to collaborative research areas of importance to industry.

Republican Gov. Bob Taft says higher education is one of his top priorities. The incumbent says he has worked to achieve successes on two ends of the spectrum - in access to college and in economic development.

"Access is one of our priorities, and we have to do what we can to keep the cost down at the two-year campuses,'' he said.

But the past two years have been a critical budget situation for Ohio.

"It's important to recognize Ohio is not alone," Mr. Taft said. "We had to tighten our belt. We're very hopeful the economy will improve. Our goal is to continue to give higher-education funding a priority."

He plans an increase in state funding next year.

"I'm determined we will even if the economy is moving very slowly," he said.

Mr. Taft's supporters also point to successes such as the 25 percent - or $40 million - more in state support for scholarships than when he took office.

The $1.6 billion Third Frontier Project proposed by Mr. Taft has been called the state's largest commitment ever to expand Ohio's high-tech research and commercial application capabilities.

This project, proposed by Mr. Taft, could potentially link colleges and universities with industry leaders to do research in areas such as bioscience, technology and electronics, for example, to boost economic growth. About $100 million has been authorized thus far, and Mr. Taft expects another $50 million to be authorized in December, administration officials said.

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Since 1998, $271.4 million has been cut from higher education. House and Senate lawmakers abolished tuition caps in the 2002-03 budget, causing colleges and universities to institute steep tuition increases, including some midyear hikes. The legislature imposed the tuition caps in 1990 as a way to control increasing college costs.

Mr. Taft had opposed removing the caps - except for Ohio State University - but did not veto the measure when he signed the budget. He is in favor or returning the caps, but state funding must be there first, he said.

Tim Hagan, a Democrat from suburban Cleveland, acknowledges the tough economic times in Ohio but points to successes in other states such as Illinois and Michigan. He is calling for a redirection of higher education after his 180-day plan to reduce the state's deficit is implemented.

The 180-day proposal would include restructuring Medicaid, ordering a reduction in outside contracting, eliminating low-priority programs and implementing video lottery terminals at Ohio racetracks. If the legislature doesn't move on his initiatives by then, he would ask they public whether they want further budget cuts or a tax increase.

Mr. Hagan wants to restore funding cuts from the state's instructional subsidy and other college access programs, and attract top students from Ohio and nationally, by establishing an Ohio HOPE scholarship program modeled on a similar program in Georgia.

"This is a watershed election about the future of this state,'' he said. "Taft's had his turn and I'll quote his favorite president, Reagan. The public has to ask itself very clearly, `Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' No parent sending their kid to a state university can say yes.

"If you want a first-class state, you have to act like first-class people and you have to pay for it."

While university presidents are beginning to speak with a united voice and the legislature is focusing state policy on higher education, Ohio is still low in national rankings, said Chancellor Rod Chu of the Ohio Board of Regents.

The problem is threefold:

Public funding of higher education in Ohio is lagging the nation. Too many people still see the state as a factory floor model in which citizens can rely on industry jobs when the national economy has fundamentally changed. Technology and innovation now drive economic development, Mr. Chu said.

There has been too much disconnect between K-12 and higher education. About 36 percent of all entering freshmen in the state have to take remedial courses, Mr. Chu said.

Despite a substantial increase in the number of associate and bachelor's degrees earned over the past decade, the state is still significantly below the national average.

Tuition at public universities is $1,255 more than the national average, while state funding is an average $137 less per full-time student, according to board numbers.

"It means we continue to suffer from what the regents and I call an education deficit,'' Mr. Chu said. "In 1970, we were 50th in the nation in per capita support. We were dead last.

"The bad news is that we're not even average yet. We have gotten better. We are about 40th or so now. (But) it has taken us 30 years to claw ourselves up just 10."

The state needs to focus on restoring the education-funding base, he said. That's why the regents recommended a 10 percent increase each year of the upcoming biennial budget - from $2.5 billion in the current budget year to $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2004 and nearly $3 billion in fiscal year 2005.

Under the recommendations, which have been forwarded to the governor's office, more than 80 percent of the increase would be devoted to funding the state share of instruction, a reform of the state's need-based aid programs and others designed to help schools through performance-based funding.

"Let's get back to where we were in fiscal 2001, and from there we can start rebuilding,'' Mr. Chu said.

Email kgoetz@enquirer.com