Ohio State University officials say they can’t control whether the state and federal governments continue to cut higher-education funding. But they can keep looking for alternative sources of money and stick to their goal of becoming one of the nation’s top public research universities. And a $483 million lump-sum payment for leasing out the parking system for 50 years would go a long way toward that effort, they say. If Ohio State were to take a financial hit because of the poor economy, they say, the university could use part of the $483 million payout from the parking deal to bail itself out. “It’s wonderful to build for the future, but it’s also our job to prepare for any financial crisis that may come. And we may have a major problem in the next year or two,” Provost Joseph A. Alutto said, referring to the threat of less federal money for student financial aid and research as lawmakers grapple with eliminating annual trillion-dollar federal deficits
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/11/osu-prepares-for-possible-hits-to-government-funding.html
