More than 37,000 students are earning associate degrees at many of Ohio’s 291 registered and accredited career colleges (also called proprietary institutions). Currently, as do eligible students who attend the state’s public and non-profit independent colleges, 22,581 of us receive a grant based upon financial need from the state. It’s called the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG).

OCOG is a direct grant which provides a significant amount of financial assistance to help reduce the cost of our education. For example, depending upon family income, this grant can be as high as $3,996 for those enrolled at career colleges for the 2008-2009 academic year. (Part-time students receive less, of course.)

Under a new budget plan submitted in February to the Ohio General Assembly by Eric Fingerhut, Governor Ted Strickland’s chancellor of higher education, less than half of the funds available for career college students this calendar year will be available for 2010 and 2011 and it is possible that grants for anyone who attends a career college could be eliminated entirely!