COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Republican senators are proposing $20,000 to top high school students to stay in state for their higher education — but there's a catch: You have to stay in Ohio for three years after graduating from college.
Senior year of high school is all about decisions, ones that 17-year-old Michelle Huang is getting ready to make.
"Everyone around me is working on applying; everyone's thinking about college," Huang said. "It's on the top of our minds right now."
And like a lot of students, where she goes could be chosen in part by how much financial aid she gets — which Statehouse leaders are trying to address.
"We wanted to keep our best and brightest in Ohio," Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said.
The Governor’s Merit Scholarship was passed in the House budget. Already existing, this language would extend the proposal that gives the top 5% of each graduating high school class $5,000 a year to attend a public or private school in Ohio.
RELATED: Ohio Senate GOP budget increases school funding, gives Browns $600M grant, creates flat tax
But the Senate made some changes in their proposal, reducing the scholarship to the top 2% of students. McColley explains that now — that money has strings attached.
"If we want to keep them in Ohio, we should actually require them to stay in Ohio post graduation," the president said.
The scholarship recipients would be required to stay in Ohio after graduation for three years. If they didn’t?
"There would be an expectation that that person would have to pay back a portion or all of the aid that they received," McColley said.
Both House GOP and Democratic leaders question how this would be enforceable.
"I assume we're not going to go across the state line to Detroit and try to drag somebody back," House Speaker Matt Huffman said, noting that it would be nearly "impossible to implement."
This is also disappointing for Huang, who already had doubts about staying within Ohio. She is only planning to apply to one school in Ohio, she said.
"After Senate Bill 1, I think a lot of us are really, really considering going out of state for school," the rising senior said.
S.B. 1 was signed into law earlier this year. It bans public universities in Ohio from diversity initiatives, outlaws bias in the classroom and limits what controversial topics can and can’t be taught. The elimination of DEI would mean no diversity offices, trainings or scholarships — including ones that Huang was hoping for.
RELATED: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs controversial college overhaul bill banning DEI
"There are programs and there are topics that we'd be able to learn about and discuss about in other schools that we would otherwise not be able to here in Ohio," she said.
There are other ways that the state could retain graduates, she added.
"I think that the legislators should make sure that we're protecting the interests of young people by not writing bills that are upending our education system," the high schooler said.
The Senate version of the budget is set to pass this week, and the senators and representatives will need to pass a compromise bill by July.
Click here to learn more about the House's passed budget.
