Kent State University’s Board of Trustees kicked off the 2026-2027 academic year with President Todd Diacon’s report that the university finished Fiscal 2026 with a balanced budget, avoiding drawing on its reserves, and that the inflation-adjusted tuition at Kent State combined with Ohio’s other public universities is actually 13% cheaper today than it was 20 years ago.
Diacon observed that numerous colleges and universities in Ohio, and scores of universities nationally, are not able to deliver end-of-year balanced budgets.
“Our delivering a balanced budget for the fiscal year that just ended is evidence of our commitment to being good stewards of the public’s resources,” he said.
He also shared that Gov. Mike DeWine, speaking at a recent statewide university trustees conference, highlighted that over the past decade, Ohio achieved the second-lowest tuition increase in the United States. An Inter-University Council of Ohio report showed that when adjusted for inflation, public university tuition in Ohio has decreased by 13% since 2005.
Diacon also pointed to today’s rapidly changing higher education landscape nationally, in Ohio and at Kent State.
“This is the most change in higher education that I have experienced in 39 years,” Diacon said. “We could just go through the list: numerous federal decisions and edicts as they relate to research funding. I talked to you in another session about student loans and the massive changes in subsidized federal student loans. All of this happening this year.”
Diacon also mentioned international students and changes in visa restrictions; the elimination of long-standing programs; federal changes; Senate Bill 1, which is now law; and Transformation 2028, a strategic, multiyear initiative designed to strengthen the academic foundation and position the university for long‑term success.
The president thanked the Kent State staff, and especially faculty, for their work and dedication during these unprecedented and unsettled times.
“We know, and I know, that our faculty are really dedicated professionals who go out of their way and continue to excel in what they do even when the noise grows to a deafening level around them,” Diacon said. “Our faculty continue to excel both as classroom teachers and as researchers and experts in their field.” He observed that 39 current Kent State professors are ranked on this year’s Stanford University list of the top 2% most-cited researchers.
Further, Diacon cited successes in graduating career-ready professionals in several key sectors in the Ohio economy, including construction management with a 100% job placement rate. The university also recently announced that the College of Architecture and Environmental Design welcomed its largest first-year class in 25 years, and the College of Nursing enrolled its biggest incoming class in a decade.
This fall, Kent State welcomed 7,544 new students on its eight campuses. This includes 5,004 first-year students. It’s one of the largest incoming classes in university history, and 59% of that class (more than 2,900 students) arrived with College Credit Plus credits, reflecting deeper high school partnerships and better-prepared students.
Kent State remains the largest public university in northern Ohio and the region’s highest-ranked public institution by U.S. News. Kent State’s overall enrollment of 31,581 includes students from 49 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and nearly 100 countries. The Board congratulated the university administration on its enrollment achievements.
Board Approves Conferral of Spring Degrees
The Board celebrated student success with the conferral of degrees for spring 2026. A total of 4,713 degrees were awarded to Kent State students who completed the requirements of their respective programs of study between Dec. 14, 2025, and May 9, 2026.
Each year, Kent State graduates a total of more than 8,000 students, and around 65% of the new alumni stay in Ohio.
