Ohio would support employer-backed college and certificate programs

The chancellor of higher education and the development director would establish a program allowing colleges to work with private employers on degree or certificate programs tied to local workforce needs. Eligible schools include Ohio higher-education institutions and nonprofit schools with state authorization. Participating employers must be private employers in Ohio. Employers would have to help shape the curriculum and provide significant resources, such as software, equipment, or subject-matter experts. Programs would have to lead to a recognized degree or a widely useful, portable, credit-bearing credential. Schools would keep academic control and follow state, federal, and accreditation rules. Schools would notify the chancellor, who would certify qualifying partnerships for tax purposes. Schools would also publish completion and job-placement rates each year and explain the partnership and related careers in enrollment and marketing materials. The supplied text does not state when the partnership program itself would begin.

A private employer could apply for a nonrefundable tax credit after developing or significantly updating a certified partnership and meeting the required completion or job-placement results. The development credit would cover 20% of qualifying expenses. The hiring credit would be $1,000 for each qualifying graduate hired and kept for at least 12 consecutive months, or placed in substantially similar work in the same industry. A program must reach a 70% completion rate within its first two years, or within its first two years after a significant update, for development-credit eligibility. The employer must be the partnership's private-sector partner, and the partnership must reach a 70% job-placement rate for hiring-credit eligibility. The tax commissioner must approve an application and issue a certificate. Combined development and hiring credits for a partnership cannot exceed the qualifying expenses used to calculate the development credit. The credits may be used only against the specified business tax. Unused amounts may be carried forward for two years, subject to the bill's ordering rules. The tax-credit provisions would apply to qualifying expenses incurred on or after January 1, 2027. A credit could be claimed for the tax period when its certificate is issued or the preceding tax period.