Ohio's Early-College High Schools Left Out of State Budget

In Ohio’s state budget signed by Gov. Ted Strickland on Friday, lawmakers wiped out $12-million in funds for early-college high schools. The schools, which team up with local colleges and universities to offer students the chance of earning free college credit, are considered a growing success in the state, The Dayton Daily News reports.

Early-college high schools obtain money from both state governments and private foundations through the nationwide Early College High School Initiative. Most of the project’s 42,000 students come from minority or low-income backgrounds and graduate with one to two years of college credit. But while early colleges show promising results, financing remains a challenge.

Dayton Early College Academy, Ohio’s first early college and one of the most successful in the country, will lose only about a quarter of its state support. But the budget slash could cause as many as half of the other eight early colleges in Ohio to shut down before the fall semester begins. —Ashley C. Killough