Kent State University is facing its challenges while still conducting important research, educating key healthcare workers and making its mark in several programs, its president says.
Those challenges include less support from the state, President Todd Diacon wrote in a column published on the university’s website.
Adjusted for inflation, state support for Ohio’s universities is 27% lower today than it was in 2005, he said.
“And yet total enrollment at Ohio’s public universities today is roughly the same as it was in 2005,” Diacon wrote.
State appropriations have eroded over the years, now accounting for roughly 22% of Kent State’s operating budget. In the era of Republican Gov. James Rhodes, that figure was closer to 75%, Diacon wrote.
Diacon was responding to Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s call to reform its public university system.
Ramaswamy has suggested consolidating Ohio’s universities, thereby eliminating “replicas and clones of one another throughout the state,” he said in a March 13 video posted to Threads, a social media site.
In a column recently published in the Columbus Dispatch, Ramaswamy said that if elected, he would have the chancellor of higher education conduct a review to see where universities’ missions are overlapping and enrollment has collapsed and where administrative functions could be unified.
Diacon: Expansion was designed to increase Ohioans’ access to higher education
One fact that troubles Ramaswamy is the size of Ohio’s university system: “14 public universities, 24 regional branch campuses and 22 community colleges,” his column states. Meanwhile, Florida has just 12 public universities.
Diacon points out that the size of Ohio’s system dates back to Rhodes, who came to office in 1963 with the campaign promise of placing a public university within 30 miles of every Ohioan.
The university president says Kent enrollment grew from about 7,000 students to 30,000 in 15 years. Kent State built 60 new buildings in the 1960s.
“This was not a waste,” Diacon wrote. “This was Ohio investing in itself.”
Diacon touted Kent State’s programs and colleges, from its pioneering liquid crystal technology research to its education of architects, commercial pilots, podiatrists and nurses.
“Ninety-nine percent of our nursing students are employed before or shortly after graduation, and the majority right here in our region,” Diacon wrote.
Stark State College President Para Jones says mission expands to meet employers’ needs
Para M. Jones, who is retiring June 30 after 14 years as president of Stark State College, said she “would welcome the opportunity to share more about Stark State College and our critical workforce mission with candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton as they shape their higher education policies.”
Jones said the college was started in 1960 to meet the region’s need for engineering technicians “for the many manufacturing firms that dominated our local economy.”
“That mission has only expanded in importance,” Jones said. “Today, we prepare students for high-demand careers in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, information technology, business, and the skilled trades. The need for workforce talent has never been greater, and community colleges are at the center of that solution. We work hand-in-hand with employers to prepare students for critical roles, from CDL drivers to registered nurses to industrial maintenance technicians. With high-quality programs in high-demand fields, low tuition and more than 90% of our graduates staying in the region, we are directly contributing to Ohio’s economic vitality and the strength of our communities.”
Stark State College, which has its main campus in North Canton but also has a campus near downtown Akron and a satellite center in downtown Canton, had a student enrollment in fall 2025 of 10,390 students.
A representative from The University of Akron could not be reached for a comment.
Front-runner Ramaswamy faces Casey Putsch, a northwest Ohio business owner, in the May 5 primary ballot. Republican voters will see Heather Hill, from southeast Ohio, on the ballot, but the Ohio secretary of state’s office says her votes will not be counted because her running mate, Stuart Moats, withdrew from the ticket. The Republican winner will face Democrat Amy Acton in the November election..
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com.
USA Today Network’s Ohio News Bureau contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State, Stark State leaders respond to Ramaswamy’s proposal
Reporting by April Helms, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
