Campus Safety Grant Window Opens — Can Local Universities Secure Funding?

Ohio universities have until July 29 at noon to apply for grants that could install the cameras, locks, and barriers that stand between students and the next campus emergency, according to the Ohio Department of Higher Education's RFP portal. With less than three weeks remaining, not a single local institution has publicly committed to competing for the money—a silence that transforms student safety from operational priority into optional public relations.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education has opened the FY2027 Campus Student Safety Grant Program, with applications accepted from June 29 to July 29, 2026. The program has $1 million in total funding available and is designed to help Ohio colleges and universities implement evidence-based safety practices, physical security upgrades, and technology improvements. Governor DeWine highlighted the program as part of broader support for schools and campuses, with $1 million allocated for both FY2026 and FY2027. Eligible uses include video surveillance systems, access control systems, sensors, and IP security cameras to prevent unauthorized access. Proposals are submitted directly to ODHE, not via the RFP Portal.

Eligible institutions must conduct a security and vulnerability assessment to identify areas needing safety enhancements. Whether an institution has the required assessment already in hand—or must scramble to complete one—signals whether safety planning is a standing priority or an occasional exercise.

In the previous FY2025-26 grant cycle, 28 Ohio colleges and universities received a total of $7.5 million in campus safety grant funding. The FY2027 pool is far smaller, meaning competition for the more limited funds will be more intense.

Ohio State University received $257,000 in FY2025-26, funding classroom locks at its Mansfield and Marion campuses and alarm enhancements at its Lima and Marion campuses. Ohio University received $196,665 for expanded video surveillance. The University of Cincinnati received $250,000 to purchase two security barriers.

Ohio State announced new campus safety measures in April 2026, including increased police presence, enhanced surveillance, revised field access policies, and planned structural and technological improvements following an incident at Lincoln Tower Park fields. Those publicly stated infrastructure needs align precisely with eligible grant uses, and its track record as a previous recipient with documented results makes the university appear well-positioned to compete for FY2027 funding. Whether Ohio State applies will be particularly revealing given its recent incident response and history with the program.

Yet as of early July 2026, no Ohio universities have publicly announced their application plans for the FY2027 round, despite the approaching deadline. Unlike previous cycles where universities publicly celebrated grant awards and detailed their safety projects, this application period has been marked by institutional silence. That lack of transparency leaves students, parents, and community members unable to assess whether their local institutions are competing for available safety funding or letting the opportunity pass.

Parents, students, and community members can contact their local universities directly to ask whether the institution plans to apply, what safety projects have been identified, and whether required vulnerability assessments have been completed. After the July 29 deadline, the Ohio Department of Higher Education will announce which institutions applied and eventually which received funding, making it possible to verify who followed through and who sat out. With less than three weeks remaining, institutional readiness to compete for $1 million in student safety funding is no longer theoretical—it's about to become a matter of public record.