Calling it the best economic development tool for the state, Governor Jay Nixon reiterated his proposal for an additional $34 million in higher education funding during a stop in Springfield.
The Governor first made the pitch for the performance-based model during last week’s State of the State Address.
On Wednesday, he congratulated Missouri State University for achieving all five of its performance criteria, which focus on graduation and retention rates, test scores, efficiency and an institution-specific goal. Nixon says he’s confident that the legislature will approve his proposal, considering the support from two and four-year institutions, combined with an improved economy.
“We focus on fiscal discipline. If the money wasn’t there I wouldn’t be putting it in my budget, if I didn’t see the trend lines that are clearly there,” Nixon said.
However, MSU Political Science Department Head Dr. George Connor says legislative approval could be problematic.
“Constitutional guarantee only applies to K-12, and so higher education shares with all of the other things like prisons and so on,” Connor said. “So I think this is going to be a tough battle. And it’s hard to see where this is going to be with respect to the priorities. Expansion of Medicaid is a priority,” Conner says.
On Monday, Nixon released $8.5 million in higher education funding thanks to higher than expected state revenue collections.
When asked about a study indicating Missouri colleges and universities are underfunded by $400 million, Nixon declined to debate the figures, noting that the study “doesn’t adequately respect or reflect our quality of degrees we’re getting in the state of Missouri.”
