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(Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Hundreds of Ohio high school graduates cannot go to college because state government has not stepped up to provide need-based aid, say education officials.

As legislators begin deliberating the state's two-year budget, advocates want them to understand how the state lags behind others in helping those who can't afford an education.

A coalition of school officials is calling on lawmakers and universities to make education more affordable, which includes increasing need-based aid.

A policy paper on college affordability released in February by the Higher Education Compact and Philanthropy Ohio says that while the state has become a national leader in controlling college costs by ordering tuition caps or tuition freezes, funding has lagged for the only program that provides need-based aid, the Ohio College Opportunity Grant.

In 2013-14 Ohio ranked last in the Midwest on the availability of need-based student financial aid ($165 per student).

Many Cleveland Metropolitan School students who qualify for federal and college financial aid and receive a $1,500 scholarship from College Now still have a funding gap of more than $5,600, College Now CEO Lee Friedman said March 1 at a meeting of cleveland.com editors and reporters.

"We have seen a precipitous gap," she said. Qualified students are opting not to go to college, she said.

College Now provides advising, financial aid counseling and scholarship and retention services to students.

Ohio currently provides about $100 million a year for the Ohio College Opportunity Grant program, the only money available for need-based aid.

Ohio used to offer the Ohio Instructional Grant for students attending public and private colleges. The two grants provided $224 million in aid in the 2007-08 school year. The instructional grant was phased out by 2009.

The state allocation for opportunity grants dropped to $69 million in the 2011 school year before slowly increasing each year. Gov. John Kasich has proposed an increase to $102 million a year in the upcoming budget.

According to annual surveys by the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, $80.8 million in need-based grant aid was distributed by Ohio in 2014 to 86,435 students.

That same year Pennsylvania distributed $450.5 million in aid to 181,528 students, Michigan distributed about $93 million in grant aid to about 70,000 students and Indiana distributed $140 million in grant aid to 52,400 students.

The Higher Education Compact, which includes Cleveland, the city school district, county government, 17 public and private colleges and universities, and an array of civic groups and foundations, has focused on college readiness, access and completion.

In the five years since the compact was formed, more high school graduates are ready for college and more colleges are making sure they stay in school, said Helen Williams, program director for education at the Cleveland Foundation.

"But what is not up is college enrollment," she said. The drop is not due to demographics or students choosing to enter the work force after high school, she said. It is due to a lack of funds to fill the gap between financial aid and the cost of college.

Friedman, Williams and Maggie McGrath, project director of the compact, said they plan to contact state officials and legislators.

"People say the budget is tight, but we have got to start the conversation," Williams said. "We are a small but determined group."

If higher education access and funding is not raised in the next gubernatorial election "we will be losing ground," she said.