What Is Ohio Senate Bill 1, and What Can It Mean For The Rest Of The Nation?
- US StudentAssociation
- Nov 23
- 5 min read
What Is Ohio Senate Bill 1, and What Can It Mean For The Rest Of The Nation?
Author: Tylar Ayers - Ohio Student Association, Ohio University
December 1,, 2025
The Ohio Student Association protests outside of the Ohio Statehouse in opposition to SB1, March 19, 2025.
With the announcement of Trump's Compact for ‘Protecting Higher Education’, it is important to discuss the legislation that preceded it earlier this year. The Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, also known as Senate Bill 1 (SB1), went into effect this summer on June 27 and has been subject to significant criticism since it was first introduced to the House in January.
In short, this bill has significantly dismantled higher education in Ohio. Its goals include eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, cutting research funding, creating a mandatory American civics course for students, and prohibiting faculty from striking. Another major reform is the crackdown on “controversial beliefs or policies,” which the bill defines as “any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy” and specifically lists examples such as climate, immigration, abortion, and D.E.I. programs.
Why Ohio?
Ohio is often highlighted for being a swing state with significant electoral power, but the stakes go deeper. JD Vance, an Ohio native and Ohio State graduate, has a history of openly criticizing universities. In a 2021 speech at the National Conservative Convention, he said, “We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country,” and ended with Nixon’s famous line, “the professors are the enemy.”
With this in mind, we believe that Ohio has become a testing ground for anti-higher-education legislation, and it is now being replicated on a national scale. This is further evidenced in the use of similar language between SB1 and the Compact.
OSA at the Ohio statehouse protesting the announcement of SB 1
January 22, 2025
Why Do Students & Faculty Oppose This Bill?
Critics argue that SB 1 restricts what can be taught or discussed on campus, as well as concerns over the law effectively imposing a form of state censorship and micromanagement of higher education. Additionally, banning DEI programs disproportionately harms marginalized students by removing critical support systems, such as identity centers, mentorship programs, and resources designed to foster an inclusive campus environment, while also removing targeted DEI scholarships, which many students rely on for access to higher education. Without these programs and scholarships, students will likely feel less represented on campus and have fewer avenues for guidance and advocacy. This, in turn, drives a deeper wedge into the already worsening issue of accessibility in higher education.
There are also significant workers’ rights concerns, as university employees are prohibited from striking, limited in their ability to collectively bargain over faculty evaluation policies, and restricted in tenure-related protections. These constraints are already affecting classroom dynamics, with faculty self-censoring and avoiding “controversial” topics out of fear of potential repercussions.
Before this bill was signed into law, the Ohio Student Association launched a massive campaign calling for it to be rejected, including leading multiple protests at the statehouse, and raising over 1,700 testimonies in opposition to the bill, breaking the statehouse’s testimony system, requiring them to make a new one. This was met with only 39 testimonies in favor of the bill. Somehow, despite massive student protests and clear opposition from the people this bill would impact the most, it passed. It is in moments like this that we must ask ourselves, Is this what democracy looks like?
How Has SB1 Impacted Our Campuses?
At Ohio University, identity centers, including the multicultural, women’s, and LGBTQIA+ centers, have been closed, and faculty, rather than being reassigned roles within the university, were laid off. This is not an isolated case; similar actions are happening all across Ohio’s public universities.
SB 1 eliminated identity-based scholarships that many students rely on, rescinded Pell grants, and cut research funding, including studies on hormone therapy. Student organizations focused on identity were forced to rewrite their constitutions or risk losing access to funding and resources. Faculty, especially in the African American Studies Department, now face potential job loss and even department dissolution. Students have lost mentors, safe spaces, and vital support networks, while faculty who have dedicated their careers to teaching and research are being pushed out.
The result is a campus environment that feels smaller, less inclusive, and less supportive for those who need it most.
What Happens If Universities Do Not Comply?
Non-compliance with either of these pieces of legislation shares the same result: financial danger.
SB 1 has penalties for state-funded universities found to be in non-compliance, citing that funding may be reduced, delayed, or completely withheld. The Compact states that if a university is found to have willfully or negligently violated its terms, it will lose access to the benefits for at least 1 year; for repeat violations, that penalty increases to at least 2 years. If a violation is determined, it requires that “all monies advanced by the U.S. government during the year of any violation” must be returned, meaning a university could be forced to repay grants or other federal dollars it received while not complying.
Establishing a direct link between political mandates and institutional finances will force universities to prioritize adherence to state orders or risk financial repercussions. This raises a deeper concern: What are the long-term consequences for Universities in the U.S. if funding becomes conditional on ideological compliance? Universities could face challenges to their accreditation, diminished academic credibility, recruitment struggles, faculty departures to institutions with greater protections, and an overall weakening of their reputation in higher education.
Collectively, these outcomes threaten to reshape universities from centers of independent thought into institutions increasingly influenced by political agendas.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Here in Ohio, we are already feeling the effects of SB 1 across the state: identity centers have been closed, faculty have been laid off, and scholarships and research funding have been cut. Now, with the threat of Trump’s Compact, we risk losing even more on a national level, potentially seeing similar restrictions on academic freedom, curriculum, and campus support systems nationwide. In times like these, we must remember that while those in power may take our centers and try to limit what can be taught or discussed in classrooms, they can never take away the communities we have built. Our connections, mentorship networks, and student organizations remain a source of strength and empowerment. In a time when higher education is under attack, we as students must stand together to protect our institutions, safeguard free speech, and ensure that our universities remain spaces for critical thinking, diverse perspectives, and inclusive learning.
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