In their version of the budget, Ohio House GOP lawmakers extended the Governor’s Merit Scholarship program, which awards scholarships to students who make the top 5% of their graduating class if they stay in-state for school.
Gov. Mike DeWine requested $47 million in fiscal year 2026 and $70 million in fiscal year 2027 for the program, which the latest version of House Bill 96 maintains, but lawmakers created new conditions private and independent universities and colleges would need to meet to stay eligible for the scholarships.
Under HB 96, nonprofit independent universities and colleges would have to admit any Ohio graduate who makes the top 10% of their graduating class.
The institutions would also have to abide by certain Senate Bill 1 regulations. An overhaul of Ohio’s institutions of higher education, SB 1 gets rid of most mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion—colloquially, DEI—training, requires so-called “intellectual diversity” on certain subjects, and slashes university trustee terms.
The extensive bill, which goes into effect in June, puts universities in Ohio founded on religious doctrine in a predicament, from the Catholic mid-sized University of Dayton to smaller Baptist campuses statewide.
“That’s always the tension that we have between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution.” House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said Wednesday. “It’s the same issue in the Ohio Constitution.”
The final draft of HB 96 folded in a religious exemption, Huffman said.
Todd Jones, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio president, said he believes neither of the conditions are really possible in practice for private institutions.
“There is the appearance of an exemption for religious practice, but it’s religious practice as judged by the Chancellor (of the Ohio Department of Higher Education), and so the Chancellor is going to have to be in the business of deciding every syllabus, does it comply with a sincerely held religious belief?” Jones said in an interview.
More than 950 students who were awarded a Governor’s Merit Scholarship in 2024 attended a private or independent university or college, according to AUCIO.
Jones feels the real goal is to cut nonprofit and nonpublic schools out of the conversation, he said.
“I wouldn’t have dreamed that a conservative, Republican caucus would have pushed to eliminate choice for independent college students at a time when students who are just one or two years younger are given the rights to exercise more choice,” he said.
The budget increases money put toward private school vouchers, including by establishing an educational savings account, according to analysis documents.
HB 96 is now in the hands of the Senate, which is targeting a June 12 floor vote, according to Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland). DeWine has to sign it by June 30.
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