Helena Marten
News Editor
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati, Ohio native and Republican gubernatorial candidate for the state, recently voiced his support for consolidating Ohio colleges and universities in an opinion article for The Columbus Dispatch titled, “Ohio must reform its ‘fragmented’ public universities.” Ohio currently has 36 public two- and four-year colleges and universities, 74 independent institutions and 49 technical centers.
Ramaswamy wrote that “rising tuition costs are becoming unsustainable for Ohio families,” a claim that follows trends the Voice reported on last spring. Wooster has raised tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year and implemented a new policy in which students are charged for overloading courses.These changes will allow the College to keep up with inflation costs and mirror the policies of similar colleges per David Jones, vice president for finance and business and treasurer of the College.
Ramaswamy also cited staff cuts due to financial struggles at Ohio universities and colleges such as Cleveland State University as evidence of a common trend of financial issues among peer institutions. At Wooster, money-saving efforts manifested in the Feb. 5 layoffs of 22 staff members. In his op-ed, Ramaswamy referenced a 2019 article from the Economics of Education Review, in which a review of The University System of Georgia prompted the consolidation of eight of the system’s universities, resulting in a reduction of four independent institutions. The article found that the consolidation effort led to increased retention rates, increased spending on academic support, higher rates of on-time graduation and decreased spending on student services.
A review of institutional consolidation efforts in the states of Texas, Georgia and Wisconsin demonstrated contradictory effects, however. The review found that consolidations can be shaped by local and state politics. The large-scale, institutional changes made during these mergers can neglect to establish or maintain support for marginalized students. Critics of university consolidation argue that a stakeholder focus on equity may come at the expense of the student experience or the quality of education. Another research review from the National Education Policy Center found that “new consolidation is likely to result in neither greater efficiency nor better instructional outcomes—especially when it results from state policy that implements large-scale forced consolidation.”
Ramaswamy proposed a “Chancellor of Higher Education to conduct a statewide review, guided by clear statutory criteria. … It will identify where missions overlap, where enrollment collapse has made independence untenable, and where administrative functions can be unified without harming students. The chancellor will then return to the General Assembly with a concrete plan on a fixed timeline.” In the past, The College of Wooster has experienced dwindling enrollment and demonstrated mission overlap with other Ohio liberal arts colleges. The College has also been internally trying to unify administrative efforts with staff cuts and moving responsibilities around. It is a plausible conclusion that The College of Wooster would be a candidate for consolidation under Ramaswamy if he were elected. The College of Wooster is a private institution but does receive state grants to distribute financial aid to students. While a statewide mandate may not force the College to consolidate, private colleges can often be incentivized to merge with public universities due to financial struggles.
Ohio Governor, Mike Dewine, has rejected Ramaswamy’s sentiment, stating that “I’m not in favor of consolidating our colleges or doing away with any of our 14 public universities … It’s important to have them all over the state so frankly, people who can’t afford to live at the college and pay room and board, they can commute.”
