As we ring in the new year, Governor Mike Dewine has signed new laws to affect the health, finances and education of Ohioans, reshaping policies that will directly impact young adults. These changes include a raise to the minimum wage, an adjustment to student loans and newly-required courses for college students.
Minimum wage increases for workers
As of Jan. 1, Ohio’s minimum wage increased from an hourly rate of $10.70 to $11 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.35 to $5.50 per hour for tipped employees, with gratuities expected to bring the total pay to $11. Workers saw a 2.8% increase from the 2025 rates to match the increased inflation rate. Every year, Ohio’s minimum wage adjusts based on inflation changes because of a constitutional amendment passed in 2006. While the adjustment boosts workers’ pay, it also affects businesses by altering the wage eligibility threshold. Under the new legislation, large businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $405,000 a year must pay employees the Ohio minimum wage. Meanwhile, smaller businesses that did not reach that cutoff continue to pay workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. In 2025, the cutoff was $394,000 per year; however, the minimum wage increase raised the threshold. “It’s nice to have higher wages,” first-year student Patrick Hwang said. “Even with the increase, though, it may still be hard for students to afford groceries or other essentials.”
2026 marks changes in federal student loan laws
Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, major federal student loan repayment rules were revised and are set to officially take effect on July 1. Although the law is federal, it directly affects Ohio students and families, along with other borrowers nationwide. Students and parents should expect different loan limits, available repayment plans and loan forgiveness options. All new loans will be placed under the new Repayment Assistance Program, which adjusts payments according to the Adjusted Gross Income–with payments capped at 10% of AGI for higher earners. It also provides families with waived unpaid interest and forgiveness after 30 years to prevent the loan balance from growing over time. According to the Federal Student Aid website, the plan has updated their eligibility criteria to include borrowers who do not have partial financial hardship to expand its outreach. Other adjustments include a new borrowing limit for graduate students and the removal of the Grad PLUS loan, which allowed students to borrow beyond federal limits to cover tuition, housing and other expenses. This means that graduate students may need to pay more out of pocket, look for private loans or choose lower-cost programs. The new rules are aimed to reduce growing balances and provide families with alternatives, and borrowers with loans taken out prior to July 1 will have a transition period to compare options and consolidate loans.
Marijuana and intoxicating hemp distribution changes
Passed Dec. 19 2025, a new bill signed by Gov. Mike DeWine aims to move marijuana and intoxicating hemp products off of general retail shelves. With the new law, products containing THC will now be treated as marijuana products and accordingly moved into dispensaries. Additionally, new federal and state laws, including the bill, ban the sale of products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC. A ban on interstate THC transport was also introduced to prevent circumvention of the new bill, along with a line-item veto proposed by Governor DeWine that limited the sale of 5 milligram THC beverages. These new restrictions on the sale of marijuana and related products also include a clause allowing for probable cause on traffic stops if the driver is a known user of marijuana.
New education laws signal major DEI and campus adjustments
A state-level education bill, Senate Bill 1, seeks to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses and similar initiatives. Ohio senators have also stated that measures will be put into place in order to ensure that such programs do not continue under other aliases. Along with the new DEI shutdown mandate, SB-1 also requires universities to be more open to “intellectual diversity” and avoid taking set stances on issues considered “controversial” such as climate change. Faculty union powers are also being curtailed under SB-1, with the range of topics being eligible rationale for unionization narrowing to wages and excluding previous reasons such as workload, tenure and program closures.