After riding out cuts in state financial support in 2012 Kent State University is expected to see increases in state higher education dollars at seven of its eight campuses for 2014.
Gov. John Kasich's proposal for Ohio's biennium budget starting next year shows overall increases in the State Share of Instruction dollars to Ohio's public universities and colleges for fiscal year 2014 compared with 2013.
The proposal shows only the Kent State Trumbull campus will see a drop in 2014, of 0.4 percent, based on recommendations from the Ohio Higher Education Funding Commission.
The commission recommended the Kent campus see the largest increase, of 5.3 percent, raising the state's contribution from $96.7 million in Kent State's 2013 budget to $101.9 million in 2014.
Kent State relies heavily on state dollars to operate.
In 2012, the bulk of the university's eight-campus $574.2 million budget came from tuition and fees to make up 61.3 percent of the total budget. State appropriations accounted for 21.5 percent of the overall budget that year.
And in fiscal year 2012 the university saw a 13.1 percent, or about $12 million, cut in state dollars.
In a prepared statement, Kent State President Lester Lefton pointed to the university's role in the Northeast Ohio economy as an important reason to maintain state-level support of higher education.
“Gov. Kasich clearly understands the important role higher education plays in the economic revitalization of Ohio and our nation," Lefton said. "We appreciate that the governor continues to prioritize higher education. The Kent State community is committed to student success and helping our students graduate."
The higher education funding committee's recommendations for the university's eight campuses are:
Campus FY2013 Actual ($) FY 2014 Projected ($) Percent Change Kent 96,737,165101,874,112
+ 5.3 Ashtabula 4,050,680 4,219,509 + 4.2 East Liverpool 2,048,742 2,139,445 + 4.4 Geauga (Twinsburg) 3,337,559 3,482,511 + 4.3 Salem 3,738,460 3,853,605 + 3.1 Stark 8,456,186 8,504,747 + 0.6 Trumbull 4,643,535 4,626,705 - 0.4 Tuscarawas 4,851,369 4,866,882 + 0.3
Anyway, I do believe that while my opinions may have no value to you, they may sometimes provide some new food for thought for other people, just as their thoughts sometimes provide food for thought for me. Sometimes, to the chagrin of some people, to really make a point I feel it is necessary to get quite vivid, such as using the example of a baby dying in a home fire to get people thinking seriously about home safety. It's not that I am insensitive, it's just that I think some things are too important to gloss over. Then there are the clowns who provide comic relief.
Spending money for paving and super-sidewalks is more important than education, too. I suppose someone has done a study that shows that the wider the sidewalks, the better the students you will attract. I know that Lefton wants to improve the graduation rate. One way is to recruit students from foreign countries where he can accept only the best. KSU, as you know, has an office in India and is opening one in Brazil. There are programs with China. I don't know what else is going on or in the works, but with the number of potential Ohio students lessening, they must come from somewhere. Lefton, although one may not agree with it, knows exactly what he is doing. I think in the next few years the number of international students will be far larger that at the present time. One of the upsides to this is that foreign students are less likely to get smashed and require police departments to quell the chaos, thereby improving the quality of life for all of us.
What is this about then? http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1823023
My comment was sarcastic agreement with the comment made by Mars. Every year we are treated to seeing Kent State sports figures being arrested for assault or robbery or whatever else. But the rah rah sports lovers are willing to overlook bad conduct both on and off the field or arena floor. I think it is really sad. The golfers and baseball players don't do that kind of stuff. I wonder why that is.