The Ohio State University president talks student debt, Big Ten football, and NIL rules

The Ohio State University President Kristina Johnson joins Yahoo Finance Live to share how her school wants to eliminate student debt, the state of higher education, the upcoming college football season, and NIL rules.

Video Transcript

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RACHELLE AKUFFO: The White House taking a big step toward addressing the nation's growing student debt crisis with its plan to cancel $10,000 in federal student loans for millions of Americans. Well, let's discuss what this means for colleges across the US with Christina Johnson, President of the Ohio State University. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. So I want to first get your reaction to this and what this means for Ohio State and your strategy going forward.

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, thank you very much for having me today. It's a real pleasure. First of all, we are grateful for anyone and everyone that can help us with access and affordability. That's so important. So what we're doing at the Ohio State University is we've set a goal within this decade for our students to graduate debt-free.

And on average, our students right now, about 46% will graduate with an average debt of about $27,000. So it's significant, and we want to make sure that we do away with it. And we've got a plan to make this a sustainable opportunity.

DAVID BRIGGS: One thing-- it's nice to see you. One thing the president and the education secretary highlighted the other day was the rising cost of college. And they said in their data that the cost of a public and private four-year education has nearly tripled since 1980. What is Ohio State doing to help bring those costs down?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, absolutely. So our approach, it's called the Scarlet & Gray Advantage, is-- first of all, when our students come in as freshmen, they have-- it's called a cohort tuition and fee model. They have fixed tuition fees for their whole four years. So that surety of what the expense is is huge. It reduces the risks, and it helps our families and students plan for their education. So that's the first thing that we're doing.

We are increasing tuition well below inflation. We do have increases, but they're capped for every four years. And then we've put in place a model where it's a combination of philanthropy, keeping costs low, going to open educational resources to reduce our textbook costs, and then providing internships and opportunities for well-paying jobs to our students so they can help contribute to their financial education-- cost of their financial education.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: What do you see as some of the biggest barriers? Because obviously, you have tuition, but then, as you mentioned, some of those other costs, things like books and being able to pay for campus housing and things like that. What do you see as the biggest headwinds that need to be addressed?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, I think the biggest headwinds is just really understanding what do you have to borrow. And it's increasing the grant to loan for our students that have financial aid. And then it's really appreciating-- you borrow the money, and you want to make sure you can pay it back and pay it back at a reasonable interest rate and on time. So I think these are some of the things that the administration is trying to address. These are some of the things that we're trying to address as an institution. So I think those are the main things.

DAVID BRIGGS: Kristina, I would imagine it is a great relief to not have COVID the single biggest issue for you as we enter-- and I can see it on your face there. Is it fully behind you in Columbus? And what becomes the central issue as we head towards another school year?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, Dave, you may or may not know, but I started my presidency at Ohio State on September 1 of 2020, so I kind of parachuted in during COVID. So it's been COVID for two full years. And yes, it's-- I tell you, a lot of things that have changed as we've learned a tremendous amount about this particular virus. We have vaccines. Well over 90% of our community is vaccinated, so that gives a certain amount of flexibility.

All our classes are in-person. There are not masks. Last night, we had the Buckeye kickoff in The Shoe, getting ready for our football season. And we had thousands of students showing up and just really enjoying being in a residential environment. That speaks volumes for mental health and educational experience. So I'm pretty excited about this year.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And you're also one of the biggest colleges in the United States. How are you leading the way in terms of innovation in your University as well?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, one of the things that Ohio State is becoming more and more known for is our research. We topped $1.24 billion in research expenditures, which would put us among the top 15 universities in the entire country. So we're known for our mobility, our materials, AI, our ag innovation, and our medical science breakthroughs, particularly in gene therapy, just to mention a few. And so I think the approach that we're taking is a real convergent research, where we bring together experts from all different disciplines, including the arts and the humanities, to focus on important problems to society and crafting solutions that can be realized in our lifetime.

DAVID BRIGGS: You mentioned that kickoff event in The Shoe, and Big Ten football kicks off this weekend with Nebraska-Northwestern. Ohio State not too bad, ranked number two. They'll kick off next weekend. I ask you about this because you are one of the select few on the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, so nobody better to ask about this report from Pete Thamel that the College Football Playoff might break away from the NCAA. Are you in favor of that eventual move?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, as you mentioned, I am part of what's called the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, and I represent the Big Ten. So this is very much a collaborative process. It involves the commissioner of the Big Ten, and it involves my colleagues, other presidents of the Big Ten. And the conversations are focused on anything from expanding the college playoff to expansion of individual conferences and what we're doing in that regard. So there's a very fulsome conversation going right now, and we'll keep you posted as we move along.

DAVID BRIGGS: Hmm. Kind of straddling the fence there, but I understand. All right, so the Big Ten also signed the biggest deal in the history of college sports, a billion bucks a year. For parents, for teachers, for students and alumni, where does that money go at Ohio State?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Right. So first of all, we're very pleased to have one of the biggest deals, as you mentioned, and it is split among the 14 members of the Big Ten, soon to be 16 in the future, we believe. So at each individual school where the funds go to is they'll support-- we have 36 sports. That's over 1,000 student athletes that are getting the opportunity to learn leadership skills, time management, how to be competitive, how to be cooperative and collaborative.

And that's really important to me as a former athlete myself, a Division I athlete. I know what it takes to have to balance a full complement of engineering classes as well as being a two-sport athlete. And that was invaluable to my success. And so I'm very passionate about maintaining those opportunities.

But it becomes more expensive. The facilities are costly, the coaches, the opportunities to provide that individual attention to our students is an expense that we need to cover. So that will help us maintain those opportunities for our 36 sports.

DAVID BRIGGS: I know you're a former field hockey star. I want to ask you about the Buckeyes, the first I'd heard of where a college football team, where the players themselves started their own NIL initiative. Can you tell us at all how that works? And do you think name, image, and likeness has made college athletics better or worse in the short term?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Well, I'll answer everything you said, I just want to make a slight correction. I wouldn't say I was a field hockey star. I was a star in terms of my passion, but not necessarily in terms of my accomplishments. But that's another story. But I did play and I loved it.

So look, I'm in favor of name, image, and likeness. I think everybody should be able to benefit from what they own, and that is their brand, their image. So I think that's great. I'm not in favor of pay-to-play. And I think that's where we really have to think through this.

And I think it's terrific when people come together and they figure out how they can take advantage of their own intellectual property, I would say, their own image. So, you know, I love our students. I love our student athletes. Support them all the way. What I don't want to see is where it becomes a professional thing where people are recruited prior to coming to the campus based on, as I said, that pay-to-play model.

DAVID BRIGGS: It feels a lot like pay-for-play some days. I wanted to give you the chance to say a big happy birthday to the University of Michigan who celebrates their birthday today. They are 205 years old. What would you like to tell them?

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Where is that?

DAVID BRIGGS: It's that blue and maize. I think-- I think, you know, the Wolverines, I think, is what their named.

KRISTINA JOHNSON: Huh. I'll have to look it up. Thank you.

DAVID BRIGGS: She's going to punt.

KRISTINA JOHNSON: No, I mean, all teasing aside, the president of the University of Michigan, the incoming president Santa Ono, is a personal friend and was a very-- a good friend. And I just really love Mary Sue Coleman who I got to know back in the day when I was a dean. So look, we're rivals on the field, of course.

And we just-- we call them that school up north. But in terms of-- really, we're very alike in terms of our focus on academic and athletic excellence. So I'm looking for it. I guess I would say we're looking forward to having it in our house.

DAVID BRIGGS: Very collegial.