Ohio State may soon be required to guarantee its undergraduate students a degree in four years.

House Bill 167, introduced this week to the Ohio House of Representatives, proposes that Ohio adopt a rule requiring public state universities to guarantee the completion of an undergraduate degree in four years, assuming a full-time undergraduate student has declared a major field of study.

In order to be sure students can complete the course work within the specific amount of time, HB 167 also requires that public universities maintain reasonable course availability to these undergraduates.

“People need to take a look at this higher education issue in Ohio,” said Rep. Joe Koziura, D-Lorain, the primary sponsor of HB 167.

“We can get kids in and out of public high schools in four years, so why does college take four and a half or five years when people are paying for it?” Koziura said.

Koziura introduced House Bill 640, a bill similar to HB 167, in September, because he had been receiving complaints from his constituents about the issue. They said Ohio’s public universities were not providing enough direction for students who want to graduate in four years.

Because HB 640 was introduced so late in the year, it did not receive much attention from the House of Representatives. As a result, Koziura introduced a version of the bill again this year.

“This bill will provide legislation necessary for the students, particularly at a university like OSU,” said Bob “B.J.” Schuerger, spokesman for Koziura.

“This is something that really needs to happen,” he said.

Schuerger served as USG president and graduated from OSU in three years and one quarter with a degree in political science and history.

“I worked on this issue as a student leader at OSU,” he said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to craft this legislation with Joe Koziura.”

“Public universities in Ohio seem to be increasing tuition 4 to 9 percent each year. People can’t afford to pay that much money for five years when students are completing a four-year program,” said Jennifer Sorgenfrei, spokeswoman for Rep. Peter Ujvagi, D-Toledo, a co-sponsor of HB 167.

Ujvagi said the bill is a step towards eliminating confusion concerning the transfer credit continuum’s balance at Ohio’s public universities, she said.

Rep. Jim McGregor, R-Gahanna, another co-sponsor of HB 167, said the House has no desire to pass bills that tell universities how to operate.

“University leadership somehow has lost track of providing the opportunity for students to get out of school in a certain amount of time,” he said.

McGregor said he supports the bill because it addresses a problem that needs to be solved in a timely manner, especially with increasing tuition rates.

“Universities need to be sure that students who need a course can get into it in a reasonable amount of time,” McGregor said.

Courses in high demand with undergraduate students should accommodate for that demand, so general course work can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, he said.

“This bill is not a sudden reaction, but a response to an ongoing problem,” McGregor said. “Administration needs to be free to manage, but after years of these problems, it’s necessary for legislation to step in.”

Martha M. Garland, vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies, said OSU is taking steps to address the problems being covered by HB 167.

“We want students who want to get out of Ohio State in four years to be able to do that,” she said

Adjustments have been made in student orientation sessions in order to emphasize the steps that need to be taken for students to complete an undergraduate degree in four years. The university is also working with academic advisers from across the campus, focusing on the timely planning of a degree, Garland said.

“A good portion of the money from the tuition hike is being put into opening up high-demand courses, which will also help students get out in a timely manner,” Garland said.

OSU administrators have studied why students sometimes take longer than four years to graduate.

“Consistently, we have found this is mostly because of choices the students make,” Garland said. “This ranges from students choosing to take lighter course loads, to students dropping courses in order to maintain a higher GPA.”

The university has yet to take a position on HB 167.