YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Shortly after becoming Youngstown State University president, Bill Johnson predicted the university’s Y logo would be erected soon in Steubenville.
A 7-0 vote Thursday afternoon by YSU trustees laid the groundwork for that prediction to become reality. The board voted to accept the title of the former Eastern Gateway Community College classroom building in Jefferson County from that county’s commissioners.
“We’re very excited about it,” Johnson said.
While Jefferson County is transferring the building title at no cost to YSU, YSU will pay for utilities and maintenance and startup costs for the new campus. Johnson said the state will provide $3.6 million – including $2.5 million that was earmarked in the state budget approved earlier this year – for the new campus. The other $1.1 million is coming from what was left when the Eastern Gateway Community College Governance Authority ceased operations Sept. 30. That body, appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine, oversaw the dissolution of the community college. DeWine also had asked YSU to step in to fill the educational gap left by Eastern Gateway’s closure, Johnson said.
YSU plans a meeting in January at the new campus to introduce the community to the university.
“We believe when potential students find out about the superior educational offerings of Youngstown State there in Steubenville – something they’ve never had before – they will return,” Johnson said.
He hopes some classes will be offered there next summer. He pointed to welding and a police academy as some courses that could be offered soon. But what’s offered, as well as the number of faculty and staff hired for the new campus, will depend on what students in that community are interested in and register for.
Johnson said YSU won’t hire people until and unless officials know there are students signed up to serve.
“In other words, we’re not going to have people on the payroll just sitting around waiting for students to show up,” he said.
The building has been mostly unused since Eastern Gateway closed in 2024.
YSU conducted a market analysis to determine if the funding strategy was adequate based on the student market of the Jefferson County region.
“That market analysis has convinced us that while the path forward is not risk free, there is a substantial educational need in the student market in the region, and it’s there for YSU to capture,” Johnson said.
While YSU has eyed opening a campus in Steubenville for about two years, litigation involving Eastern Gateway, as well as regulatory matters, had stood in the way until recently.
Jefferson County commissioners and YSU and state officials agreed earlier this year that YSU would take ownership of the building to start a Steubenville campus. A reverter clause, however, remains in place, requiring that the building will return to the county if it ceases to be used for educational purposes.
YSU’s decision is welcome news to Tony Morelli, Jefferson County commissioners chairman.
“We want to be great partners with YSU, and I tell you, I feel good about how YSU is looking forward to coming into our community and branching out a little bit” and becoming part of the community, he said earlier this week.
And the decision means jobs as people are hired and services resume at the campus. Those people will pay taxes in Steubenville. Morelli said it’s a much better alternative to the former college building sitting empty.
“There’s not a waiting list of colleges that are, ‘Hey, give us a call if YSU doesn’t take it,’” he said.
A lot of colleges and universities are selling some of their campus buildings rather than expanding, the commissioner added.
The county retained a portion of the land that had been used by Eastern Gateway and plans to request proposals from developers interested in building there.
Eastern Gateway closed last year after about 60 years. The college, which was headquartered in Steubenville and operated a campus in downtown Youngstown, is the first public institution of higher learning to close in Ohio.
Its demise followed years of financial and accreditation challenges mostly linked to its free college benefit program, which provided courses to union members and their families across the country at no cost to them. Enrollment ballooned four-fold compared with before the program, but the U.S. Department of Education ordered the college to end the program. It alleged that Eastern Gateway was charging students who received Pell grants more than those who didn’t.
When the free college program ended, enrollment plummeted, and Eastern Gateway closed the following year.
Johnson acknowledged that there’s a trust problem among many in Jefferson County with higher education in general following the Eastern Gateway closure. But he has a plan to address it.
“That’s easy,” the YSU president said. “We do what we say we’re going to do.”