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Reporting on the state of education in your community and across the country.

Changes Hit Ohio's Community College Funding Formulas

Images_of_Money / Flickr

A new law that tweaks the way Ohio's community colleges earn their state funding went into effect earlier this month.The state’s 23 community colleges will now earn their chunk of state funding based on the amount of students completing courses and eventually graduating, instead of the number of students enrolled.It’s similar to the funding model the state’s public four-year models implemented earlier this year.
 

And John Carey, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, thinks the move will improve both the success of students and two-year schools.“Our graduation rate at community colleges isn’t where we like it to be,” Carey said. “If students are going to spend the time and the money to attend a community college, we want to make sure that provides quality and value to them at the best cost possible.”The funding requirements do take into account the more diverse, non-traditional circumstances of community college students - many are adult learners or going to school while working full time.But even so, the burden on two-year colleges is higher than before, and that means they must focus on more supportive measures-- like offering more advising and focusing on daily attendance--to help students earn their credentials.The chancellor hopes this move will help Ohio get to a goal of having 60 percent of residents earn some type of higher education credential by 2025.