Students are stunned by Ohio State’s proposed 34 percent tuition increase for incoming students, but OSU’s largest tuition increase actually occurred in 1969.
In the summer of 1969, OSU’s Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition by 38 percent, beginning in autumn quarter.
The increase raised tuition from $435 to $600 for the academic year.
The tuition increase applied to all students, said Bill Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance.
“The student reaction was a lot like it is today,” said Todd Rolf, a 1974 graduate of OSU. The decision was controversial and upset the student body, he said.
An issue of The Lantern from 1969 referred to the tuition increase as “the most controversial issue on campus” and listed the rising costs of program maintenance and the need for faculty raises as reasons for the increase.
Minutes from the Board of Trustees meetings in 1969 said a cutback in requested state funds made the increase necessary.
John Mossbarger, a 1972 OSU graduate, thought the situation today is similar to the situation in 1969. When OSU can’t get the funds it needs from the state, it tries to solve the problem by raising tuition significantly, he said.
Enrollment did not decrease, according to statistics from the Office of the University Registrar.
