The Oval at Ohio State University. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor

Ohio State is working to match, in some cases, need-based aid given to incoming Ohio students who will be impacted by recent increases in cost of attendance.

The increases — 6 percent to the instructional fee, 6 percent to the housing fee and 3 percent to the dining fee — are part of the university’s newly instituted Tuition Guarantee Program, which freezes incoming in-state students’ tuition until the 2020-21 academic year, but raises fees in order to do so.

As a result, the university is adjusting need-based aid for in-state middle- and lower-income students eligible for grants and scholarships. The money used to create more generous need-based aid packages is coming from increased revenue in Ohio State’s aid budgets.

A $5 million boost for the President’s Affordability Grant will take place during the 2017-18 academic year, providing aid to middle- and lower-income students. The grants are funneled through Ohio State’s administrative efficiency program, Ben Johnson, an Ohio State spokesman, said in an email.

The Land Grant Scholarship, which covers full tuition from students in every county, increased its reach for students as well, by doubling the number of scholarships from 88 to 176. Two students from each county will receive this scholarship under the guarantee.

Out-of-state and international students are not included in the Tuition Guarantee Program, and will potentially see their tuition increase over the years. The reason for this being Ohio residents pay taxes to support the university and its aid and scholarship programs, other students do not, hence their exclusion from the guarantee.

However, the base fee these students pay, which is the in-state tuition cost, will remain, Johnson said, adding that with the stable base costs comes a more predictable tuition price throughout the incoming student’s four years at the university.

Although newly enrolled out-of-state students are not part of the Tuition Guarantee program, they are to pay the increased fees associated with tuition-freeze given to in-state students such as the housing and dining fee increases.

In addition to paying those increases, incoming out-of-state students at all campuses are to pay a 5 percent non-resident fee increase, which equates to roughly $1,500 over the course of an academic year, and international students will have a flat $996 international fee increase, as opposed to a fixed percentage.

The 2,200 undergraduate students the university has committed to cover full tuition will receive this value, regardless of the fee increase or whether or not they are Ohio residents.

This fee increase for in-state students will not be reflected in any sort of merit-based scholarships, however, as they are at a fixed-cost.

In total, 3,672 incoming first-year students are receiving these scholarships for their academic success in high school — based on GPA, ACT and SAT scores — ranging from $1,500 to covering tuition and cost of attendance in full. Of those students, 415 are receiving full tuition merit-based aid.

Returning students living on campus who are not part of the Tuition Guarantee Program, but will see a fee increase in their room-and-board, will be given increased need-based aid reflective of the fee increase as well, if they qualify for the the Pell Grant — a subsidy the federal government provides for students with financial need — or President’s Affordability Grant.