Read the full stored bill text
As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 345
2025-2026
Senator Manning
To
enact section 3333.1211 of the Revised Code
to
create the Higher Education Evidence-Based Innovation Fund and Grant
Program and to require the Chancellor of Higher Education to conduct
a study on retrenchment processes at state institutions of higher
education.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 3333.1211 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
3333.1211.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"State institution of higher education" has the same
meaning as in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Student success program" means a program established and
operated by a state institution of higher education for the purpose
of improving postsecondary retention rates, completion rates, or the
time students take to earn a degree, excluding post-baccalaureate
programs, and with an emphasis on supporting low-income students.
(3)
"Evidence-based reform or practice" means an activity,
strategy, or intervention that either:
(a)
Demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student
outcomes or other relevant outcomes based on one of the following:
(i)
Strong evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented
experimental study;
(ii)
Moderate evidence from at least one well-designed and
well-implemented quasi-experimental study;
(iii)
Promising evidence from at least one well-designed and
well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for
selection bias.
(b)
Does both of the following:
(i)
Demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or
positive evaluation that such activity, strategy, or intervention is
likely to improve student outcomes or other relevant outcomes;
(ii)
Includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of such activity,
strategy, or intervention.
(4)
"Evidence tier-one reform or practice" means a reform or
practice that prior research suggests has promise for the purpose of
successfully improving student achievement or attainment for
low-income students and for which student outcomes can be
meaningfully measured.
(5)
"Evidence tier-two reform or practice" means an evidence
tier-one reform or practice or other reform or practice meeting
similar criteria, that through rigorous evaluation, including through
the use of existing administrative data, as applicable, has been
found to improve student achievement or attainment and for which the
impact and cost-effectiveness can be meaningfully measured.
(6)
"Evidence tier-three reform or practice" means an evidence
tier-two reform or practice, or other reform or practice meeting
similar criteria, that has been found to produce sizable, important
impacts on student achievement or attainment and which can be
expected to provide information related to both of the following:
(a)
Determining whether such impacts can be successfully reproduced and
sustained over time;
(b)
Identifying the conditions in which such reform or practice is most
effective.
(B)
The higher education evidence-based innovation fund is created in the
state treasury consisting of such amounts designated for the purposes
of the fund by the general assembly and any private contributions.
Amounts credited to the fund shall be used to award competitive
grants to state institutions of higher education to support the
adoption of evidence-based reforms and practices. Unspent amounts in
the fund shall not be transferred to the general revenue fund.
(C)
The chancellor of higher education shall establish and administer a
grant program under which the chancellor shall distribute amounts
from the higher education evidence-based innovation fund on a
competitive basis to state institutions of higher education to
support the development, piloting, scaling, and assessment of student
success programs. Preference shall be given to applications that
propose tier-three reforms or practices. Beginning in 2027, the
chancellor shall open a competitive grant period at least once every
two years. The award term for a competitive grant may be more than
two years. Additional competitive grant periods may be held at the
discretion of the chancellor. The chancellor shall not award grants
in excess of the amount held in the higher education evidence-based
innovation fund.
(D)
A competitive grant application shall include all of the following:
(1)
A plan to increase, with respect to all students enrolled at the
state institution of higher education, attainment and completion
rates or graduation rates, including both of the following:
(a)
A description of the evidence-based reform or practice that would be
used, including a summary of the most rigorous and relevant studies
available regarding the reform or practice and whether the reform or
practice would be an evidence tier-one, two, or three reform or
practice;
(b)
A particular focus on serving low-income students through student
services and collaboration among two-year programs, four-year
programs, and workforce systems.
(2)
A description of how the state institution of higher education will,
directly or in collaboration with other accredited institutions of
higher education or nonprofit organizations, use the grant funds to
implement or support the evidence-based reform or practice;
(3)
Annual benchmarks for student outcomes with respect to the
evidence-based reform or practice, including a description of the
availability of relevant data;
(4)
A plan to evaluate the evidence-based reform or practice that
includes, to the maximum extent feasible, experimental designs using
random assignment or other research methodologies that allow for the
strongest possible causal inferences when random assignment is not
feasible;
(5)
A description of how the evidence-based reform or practice will be
sustained once the grant expires.
(E)
The chancellor of higher education shall, in consultation with the
department of education and workforce and the department of job and
family services, develop criteria for awarding the competitive
grants. The criteria shall include metrics related to all of the
following:
(1)
Student outcomes, including all of the following:
(a)
Student retention;
(b)
Student completion;
(c)
Economic mobility of students;
(d)
Student preparation for high-wage or high-need jobs.
(2)
Student access, including both of the following:
(a)
Net price of higher education for students;
(b)
Support for low-income students.
(3)
Sustainability and scale, including all of the following:
(a)
Number of students served;
(b)
Scalability of program;
(c)
Cost to administer the program;
(d)
Sustainability of the program once the grant expires.
(4)
Evidence and evaluation, including both of the following:
(a)
Availability of data to support evaluation and research;
(b)
The evidence tier of the evidence-based reform or practice that would
be used.
(F)
Each state institution of higher education that receives a grant
shall use the grant funds to carry out the programs and proposals
described in the institution's grant application.
Section
2.
The
Chancellor of Higher Education shall conduct a feasibility study on
including employment and earnings criteria in the retrenchment
processes described in section 3345.454 of the Revised Code. The
study shall investigate student outcomes for a variety of programs of
study, including comparing the wage outcomes of postsecondary degrees
to those of high school diplomas. The study shall also make
recommendations on improving the employment, earnings, and workforce
alignment of degree programs as part of program approval and
retrenchment processes.
Not
later than one year after the effective date of this section, the
Chancellor shall submit a report on the study's findings to the
General Assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised
Code.