In an election season that has turned Ohio’s public universities into a political flashpoint, Kent State University president Todd Diacon is answering the perennial question, “Is college still worth it?” by launching a sleek online series that blends short videos, data visualizations and written commentary.
The initiative arrives just months after Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy cited declining enrollment as a justification for consolidating several of the state’s fourteen public institutions. While Diacon does not name the candidate directly, he acknowledges that any election cycle that puts higher education in the spotlight automatically brings university leaders into the public arena.
Political backdrop and the consolidation proposal
In March 2026, Ramaswamy announced a plan to merge parts of Ohio’s public university system, arguing that a shrinking pool of 18-year-old students makes the current structure unsustainable. Seven months later, Diacon’s multimedia effort underscores that the debate should focus on data rather than partisan rhetoric. He states, “When campaigns use higher ed as a talking point, it thrusts us into the public eye, but I’m not here to wade into political battles.” Instead, he emphasizes the university’s performance metrics and aims to correct “misunderstandings or misstatements.”
Digital campaign to showcase college value
The series pairs Diacon with Bryan Alexander, a Georgetown University professor who writes about the future of higher education. Although Kent State did not compensate Alexander for his participation, the conversation spans seven hot-button topics, from Ohio’s dwindling teen population to the campus applications of artificial intelligence. Each segment is packaged in an interactive format that lets viewers jump between video clips, concise text and a wealth of university-supplied statistics.
Among the data points highlighted are the university’s enrollment peak of 42,513 students in 2012, the fact that nearly 40% of graduates leave without student-loan debt, and an estimated return of about $10 to the state for every dollar invested in Kent State. The sleek presentation is hosted on a short URL—kent.edu/worthit—designed to be shareable across social platforms.
Funding trends and tuition realities
A core message of the campaign is the dramatic shift in state support for public colleges. In the 1970s, roughly two-thirds of university budgets came from state appropriations. Today, that share has fallen to about 22%. Diacon explains, “When people ask why tuition costs what it costs, this is the answer no one talks about: Public universities didn’t get expensive; their public funding declined.” This narrative is reinforced by a quote from the president: “Over the last 20 years, public higher education in Ohio has been a strong success story.”
The series targets a broad audience—prospective and current students, families, alumni and policymakers—hoping that factual storytelling will shape future discussions about Ohio’s higher-education landscape. Diacon concludes, “We’re team players. We will always do what’s best for the state of Ohio, but I would just want any future conversations about higher ed and public higher ed in Ohio to be driven by data and by facts more than by politics.”
