Ohio Tuition Trust seeks to renew Learfield advertising partnership to promote 529 plans

The State Controlling Board on June 2 approved a renewal request from the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority to continue using Learfield to advertise Ohio 529 plans through multimedia marketing tied to several Ohio universities' athletic programs.

Michael Graham, legislative director at the Department of Higher Education, said Ohio State University, University of Toledo, Ohio University and Bowling Green State University each have competitively bid contracts with Learfield to manage athletic multimedia advertising. The tuition trust authority said a waiver is necessary so it can “piggyback” on those institutions' existing, competitively procured vendor relationships to include Ohio 529 messaging in the multimedia campaigns.

Sen. Wilkin questioned whether the tuition authority should competitively procure advertising services itself and noted the institutions' contracts had been extended at different times (OSU contracted with Learfield in 2009 and extended in 2019, OU rebid in 2019 and retained Learfield, UT and BGSU extended in 2024 and 2016 respectively). The tuition trust representative said the request is limited to those four institutions and the arrangement is intended to ensure consistent messaging and execution.

Why it matters: the arrangement uses institution‑level competitive procurements to justify a waiver for the statewide tuition trust authority. Sen. Wilkin noted an objection on the record but the board approved the item.

Discussion vs. action: board members asked about procurement history and alternatives; the board approved the waiver with an objection noted by Sen. Wilkin.

What’s next: the tuition trust authority will continue to place Ohio 529 messaging within the multimedia advertising packages run by the participating universities and Learfield.