Post-Budget

Substitute House Bill 153, the state operating budget, has been passed out of both chambers and signed by the Governor. This budget, as compared to the previous two, was friendly to independent college students. The Ohio College Opportunity Grant survived without any noticeable trim — aid to independent college students was cut by more than 50 percent over the last four years.

The current amount for the OCOG aid package will be $1,872, up from $1,848 last year. This amount is an across-the-board amount for all eligible students and will be the same no matter the estimated family contribution of the college student.

Many other programs important to independent colleges and their students received slight cuts of 5 - 10 percent. For a full, detailed look at the budget as it travelled from chamber to chamber and into conference committee, click here. The full bill, more than 4,000 pages, can be found here.