WSU gets 2 low marks on report card for affordability, cost savings

Wright State University was the only college in the Dayton region to receive an “unacceptable” rating on a state report card on college affordability and financial efficiency.

The report, compiled by members of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s task force on affordability and efficiency in higher education, details the progress Ohio’s 14 public universities have made to become more affordable and financially efficient. Ohio’s public universities are trying to generate a combined $1.2 billion in savings through fiscal year 2021, according to the report released this week.

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Wright State was ranked “unacceptable” for its operations review. While WSU reported that it entered a joint agreement with Kent State University and Youngstown State University for an operations review, it did not detail the next steps it would take and how benefits of the review would be tracked, according to the report.

Wright State also received an “unacceptable” rating for a cost diagnostic because the university has not conducted one yet to “identify its cost drivers, along with priority areas that offer the best opportunities for efficiencies,” according to the report.

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Wright State was one of only five universities to get a “strong progress” ranking for providing financial advising. Wright State officials were not immediately available to comment on the report today.

Wright State officials have been trying to reduce expenses for the past year as the school’s unrestricted reserve fund has dropped from more than $100 million in 2012 to just $12.9 million as of June. This week the university also announced it would impose a hiring freeze.

Of area colleges, Miami University and Ohio State University received the best marks in the progress report. Miami was praised for its five-year fiscal goals, operations review and cost diagnostics while Ohio State only needed to make more progress in its cost diagnostics and financial advising of students, according to the report.

Central State University received a positive rating for utilizing joint contracts but some improvement was still needed in every other area of affordability and cost saving measures, according to the report.

The University of Cincinnati was rated highly for its financial advising.

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