Ryan Powers, a sophomore studying philosophy and a member of Ohio University’s Student Union, explained how his father felt, “crushed by debt” he accumulated during his college years.
“It hurts me so much when he gets affected by (his own debt),” he said as he was tearing up.
“(My) debt is not legitimate.”
Powers and roughly 60 fellow students gathered Thursday evening to protest another round of potential tuition increases by the university. The protest comes a week prior to the Jan. 22 and 23 Board of Trustees meeting, where tuition under the OHIO Guarantee, a fixed tuition model, will be up for discussion.
"Our plan, which is new to Ohio University, was developed as a way to provide better financial predictability to students and parents, increase the value of financial aid and provide an incentive for students to graduate within four years," President Roderick McDavis said in a Post report from April.
Under this new plan, next year’s incoming freshmen would see a 5.1 percent tuition increase. However, it would not be changed throughout their next four years at OU. Current OU students would not have the 5.1 percent increase applied to them, rather, their tuition could be raised by 2 percent annually under limits set by Ohio lawmakers.
“They don’t care that students...are literally dropping out because they can’t afford this,” said Ryant Taylor, senate’s LGBTQA affairs commissioner and Post columnist.
He added trustees, which he believes must base decisions on student need, should be more transparent.
Kelli Oliver, a senior studying commercial photography, the minority affairs senator in Student Senate and a member of OU’s Student Union, told protesters she is in so much debt she couldn’t even purchase notecards for class.
Oliver then explained that the OHIO Guarantee is bad for disadvantaged and black students, adding it’s also not good for students needing more than four years to graduate college.
“I got smarter, but it will not matter when I’m working at McDonald’s,” she said. “Nobody should have to feel guilty about getting an education.”
Signs reading “R.I.P. our future” and “I can barely afford this” were visible among protesters.
Senate also emailed students on Thursday inviting all to come to Columbus Wednesday and meet with state legislators to advocate for increased funding for higher education and halt tuition hikes at OU.
The email also said senate is talking with legislators due to students' responses to the campus-wide poll by senate’s Governmental Affairs Commission on a number of conflicts facing the university.
The poll revealed 80 percent of student believe on-campus student workers aren’t paid enough and 79 percent believe tuition has become increasingly difficult for students and their families to afford. Lastly, 78 percent think top OU administrators are paid too much.
“Tuition hikes should not be the norm,” said Daniel Kington, a freshman studying english.
@megankhenry
mh573113@ohio.edu
Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated that the OHIO Guarantee would be up for discussion at the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 22 and 23. Rather, tuition rates under the plan will be discussed.
