North Columbus News

The Ohio State University Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has announced a new partnership with the Wall Street Journal, offering free subscriptions to students, staff, and faculty. This initiative follows a similar arrangement with the New York Times established in 2022.

Hayden Price, a third-year biomedical science major and senior initiatives counselor for USG, played a key role in securing this deal. Price noted that feedback from students, particularly business majors who relied on the Wall Street Journal for their studies and were paying for subscriptions themselves, motivated the effort. "Student memberships can get pretty expensive," he said.

Bobby McAlpine, president of USG and a fourth-year city and regional planning and political science major, emphasized the educational benefits of this initiative. "We believe that this feeds directly into our university motto: Education for Citizenship," McAlpine stated. "We want students to have the resources to not only be educated but to be informed educated citizens who will one day represent Ohio State University to the world."

To ensure accessibility across campus, USG collaborated with several university offices including the ADA Coordinator’s Office, the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation, and the Office of Student Life. Price explained their efforts: "We did a lot of work with [the ADA Coordinator's Office] and also the Wall Street Journal’s digital accessibility team to make sure that everything was good to go."

Looking ahead, USG aims to secure additional free newspaper subscriptions for Ohio State's community. "There are a couple of other publications, potentially some local ones, that we are exploring," Price mentioned.

Raising awareness about these free subscriptions is now a priority for USG. Price stated they are working on ensuring everyone knows about it so they can sign up for personal use. Additionally, there are plans to integrate Wall Street Journal resources into classroom settings.

Price highlighted USG's commitment to supporting student life through initiatives like these free subscriptions. "I think it’s a testament to [USG], and their ability to speak for the student body and get the student body something that they want," he remarked.

McAlpine added that removing cost barriers is central to USG's mission over recent years: "These past two years in the Undergraduate Student Government, we have been working to bridge the gap and anchor everything we do in helping students. … We are so excited to see how this can help our Buckeye community be the best it can be."

Members of Ohio State can sign up using their university email addresses at accessnyt.com for New York Times subscriptions or WSJ.com/OhioState for Wall Street Journal access.