“The enterprise concept is intend[ed] to drive a much higher rate of commercialization. When we have a product that’s the result of research at the university, we want to be able to commercialize it, generate revenue from it,” Petro said. “It’s going to benefit the inventor and the universities. And when we do that more and more, we will drive down the cost of a university education.”
Under the plan, state funding to the universities would be diverted to a scholarship pool for students who rank in the top 5 percent of their high school class, hold a grade point average of 3.8 or above, achieve high standardized test scores, and enroll at an Ohio public university.
Just 26 percent of Ohio adult workers hold college degrees, below the national average of 31 percent, and Petro said too many top-achieving students leave the state for college.
Petro pointed to Georgia’s controversial HOPE Scholarship Plan as an example of how an expansive merit scholarship program can improve an entire state’s economic competitiveness: Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia are consistently ranked among the top national universities and can attract bright future workers.
An aggressive scholarship program, coupled with Ohio’s push for universities to develop three-year bachelor’s degree programs, could reduce student debt and boost attainment of higher education, he says.
Any of the state’s 14 universities could enter into an agreement with the Board of Regents to reach certain benchmarks and become an “enterprise university.” Universities could attain the more selective “international enterprise” ranking by meeting seven of the following nine benchmarks:
• Unallocated net assets of 30 percent of total operating expenses
• Five-year graduation rate of 75 percent
• Achieve a first- to second-year retention rate of 85 percent
• Endowment of 30 percent of total operating expenses
• Research expenditures of $250,000,000 or more
• STEM degree percentage of 20 percent
• Affordability measured as a percentage of Consumer Price Index (CPI), with a bonus for institutions that lower tuition
• Twenty percent of FTEs participating in intern/co-op programs
• Direct articulation partnership with community colleges
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