Students and parents on Tuesday learned the extent of the state's slashing of the Access Missouri scholarship fund that offers need-based aid to college students.

The program, which lost more than half of its funding in Gov. Jay Nixon's June budget cuts, will offer a maximum of $950 to students attending four-year public schools, according to the Missouri Department of Higher Education. That's down from nearly $1,700 last year.

Students at four-year private institutions will receive a maximum of $1,900, while those at two-year public schools will get up to $275 for the year.

The cuts could have been worse. The beleaguered scholarship fund was reduced from $82 million to $32 million by Nixon. At the same time those cuts were announced, it was revealed that the state's student loan authority would be kicking in $30 million to use for scholarships.

The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority confirmed last week the money would be added to Access Missouri, giving it a little over $60 million to spend this year.

Further complicating matters, however, is the fact that the number of eligible students is soaring. More than 102,000 students can receive Access Missouri money this year, compared with 86,000 last year, according to education officials.

Students who receive support from Bright Flight - which targets the state's top students - are still awaiting word on their scholarships. The smaller program also lost money in Nixon's budget cuts.

Those awards are estimated to be around $1,500, though a final number will not be known until the state receives a last round of test scores to determine the number of eligible students.