Missouri’s public universities unlikely to get state funding increase next year
The Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education approved a budget request this morning that asks the state for flat appropriations next year. That’s not because public universities don’t need or want a funding increase.
Rather, it’s because the state’s Office of Administration told the department and other state agencies that any potential funding increases next year would have to be accompanied by corresponding budget cuts from those same agencies. State revenue collections are apparently not looking so good.
Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner for higher education, told the board that the department had asked if statutory and inflationary increases to the Bright Flight and Access Missouri scholarships could be eligible for funding increase. The answer from state government leaders, he said, was no.
Access Missouri, the state’s largest need-based scholarship program, would need an additional $7 million from the state to award students the maximum level of scholarship amounts, the department said. This year, the department had to reduce the award amounts by 22 percent because of an increase in eligible students going to college.
The scholarship amounts for Bright Flight, which rewards high-achieving Missouri students, was supposed to increase from $2,000 to $4,000 this year for many eligible students. But the department said it would need $17 million more from the state to make that happen.
Still, the board did approve an alternative funding request just in case state revenues turned around and more money was available. That proposal calls for a 4.4 percent increase to core university budgets and a 3 percent increase for various enhancements such as faculty salaries. In addition the board recommended funding boosts for maintenance, Bright Flight, Access Missouri — and to fund two grant programs for veteran students that are currently fully funded by universities because the state has not put money into them yet.
Officials recognized that in some ways the exercise of coming up with proposed funding increases was an exercise in futility.
“We live in the real world,” Wagner told the board. “We understand that additional funding (will probably) not be available.”
Still, he said it’s important to convey the message to state legislators that the money is badly needed. One statistic that is often cited in these discussions is that Missouri ranks near the bottom of the 50 states in its funding for higher education – 45th, to be exact, in per capita state appropriations for higher education.
But the reality is that given the state’s upcoming budget challenges, there is a decent chance that higher education might end up on the chopping block, university presidents and department officials acknowledged privately after the meeting.
This current fiscal year, universities received flat state appropriations — and did not get cut — in exchange for an agreement with Gov. Jay Nixon to freeze tuition.
But the coordinating board’s funding recommendation of a zero increase in state funding next year doesn’t mention anything about a tuition freeze this time around. It’s probably an issue that university presidents are happy not to bring up again.
The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday,com/thegrade.
Kavita Kumar covers higher education for the Post-Dispatch. 
god forbid they take money out of the Athletic scholarships to give it to academic scholarships.
It looks like the University of Missouri ran out of money so fast they could not finish the building containing those columns…
Make no mistake the MU athletic department is rolling in dough- but be careful, they basically earn it! I imagine, they have a resonably good and factual argument that the CONTRIBUTE to the Univeristy in many direct and indirect ways, and it would not be right to just go grabbing their money…Be clear- it’s THEIR money and NOT there for the taking just because they have it. Now, do Missourians as a whole need to evaluate thier priorities- should we boycott football games and contribute season ticket money to the general fund, or actual academic programs instead of the athletic scholorship fund…Sounds like a lofty idea, but not very much fun.
Some want to take money from the athletic department that pays their own way and funds all their own scholarships, salaries, and facilities through donations or ticket sales. Why is the answer always to take it away from those who earn it because some feel like they don’t deserve it or need it?
The economy is in the dumpster, but cutting long-term investments in the state’s best students who will eventually drive this economy out of recession is short-sighted at best.
Do the athletic departments build the stadium?
AMEN LARRY! God forbid we make education any kind of priority!
If we wanted state-run football leagues, maybe we should just do that. Leave the football players to the football league, and the college students to the college. Something tells me trying to sell “government football League GFL”, wouldn’t go too well. Best to hide it in the guise of a state college.
Just for the record, Mizzou’s athletic budget is self-supporting and contributes funds to the university to help academic areas. What the politicians don’t realize is that investing in higher education means a better economy for all. North Carolina is about the same population as Missouri but their support for UNC, NC State and other state universities have given them a fast growing economy and their tax burden is not much different than ours.
Larry and Lee,
The athletic programs at the University of Missouri do nothing but add to the overall funds that MU has to spend. As tigerintexas stated, the athletic budget is self-sustaining and revenue generated goes towards supporting the school in other areas. Here is a link to a story discussing the funding of Mizzou Arena:
http://www.mutigers.com/genrel/031904aaa.html
No general operating funds were used for the Arena.
Bashing the athletic programs because the state won’t fully fund Bright Flight or other state-sponsored scholarships doesn’t make much sense. The two are unrelated. This is an issue where the state has deemed other state programs as a better ‘investment’ than the brightest young minds in Missouri. If you take issue with that, take it up with your congressmen and women and not Mizzou.
I think Larry if you look closer, The Bill Laurie family built the Zoo arena and the dontations paid for the new field house and training facility.
The athletic department coaches actually work for their money. My son is a recent grad at Mizzou and told me almost every class he had it was a graduate assistant teaching the course. Where the hell are the Phd’s waiting for another government handout to write a book or do some research on the dating patterns of Mizzou coeds.