Governor Nixon weighs in on higher education funding

Governor Nixon spoke out about college funding in Columbia Thursday .
He said the Missouri House of Representatives made the wrong decision when it voted to strip an increase from his budget plan.

Gov. Nixon went on to say the state is heavily invested in education and now is not the time to stop. Higher education is the best way, Gov. Nixon explained, to ensure continued economic growth in the state.

Gov. Nixon was at MU’s Bradford Research Center Thursday . Researchers at the center study crops. Gov. Nixon announced a more than $4 million research grant for the center.

The Governor also took time to talk about higher education funding.
His 2017 budget calls for a $56 millio increase in performance funding for higher education, including a tuition freeze.

Colleges and Universities have agreed to the freeze if they get the $56 million. However, this week the Missouri House of Representatives approved a budget that didn’t include an increase.

Gov. Nixon says it’s important for the state legislature to support higher ed, “The best economic development tool we’ve got and the best guarantee that we’ll continue growth in our economy, an unemployment rate far lower than national average and investment from around the world here is education and especially higher education.”

Gov. Nixon says if the Senate doesn’t put the funding increase back into the budget, tuition for students across the state could go up, and that the state has money for the increase.

The state legislature must approve the budget by early May. The latest version from the Missouri House of Representatives also blocks Medicaid patients from Planned Parenthood.