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Business groups and students urge protection and continuation of merit and targeted scholarships in HB96
Summary
Ohio Excels, business groups and multiple students and alumni told the committee to preserve the governor's higher‑education proposals in House Bill 96, including the Merit Scholarship and existing scholarship programs (Morrill, OCOG), and to protect donor‑funded targeted awards from regulatory change.
Representatives of Ohio Excels and the Ohio Business Roundtable, along with students and alumni from Ohio's public universities, testified in support of the higher‑education provisions in House Bill 96 and urged preservation of scholarship programs that they say expand access.
Kevin Duff of Ohio Excels praised the governor's Merit Scholarship and asked the House to continue proposals that encourage top high‑school graduates to stay in Ohio and to keep performance funding aligned with workforce outcomes. He highlighted the budget’s direct admissions pilot and an admissions‑guarantee initiative intended to streamline enrollment pathways.
Several students and recent graduates described how scholarships and grants — including the Morrill Scholarship and the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) — made college attendance possible and argued private donor scholarships for underrepresented groups should not be eliminated by regulatory changes. Witnesses said removing designated scholarships would increase reliance on state aid and could raise OCOG program costs.
Witnesses also asked the committee to clarify statutory or regulatory language so that private endowed scholarships and programs targeted at underrepresented or regional students would not be unintentionally disallowed under new rules. Committee members asked for data on program costs and the potential fiscal impact of restricting donor scholarships; witnesses recommended precise budget or statutory language to preserve targeted aid while remaining compliant with state and federal law.
The hearing included no formal committee vote on HB96; lawmakers requested follow‑up information and urged continued stakeholder engagement on draft language.
