Missouri House committee considers tying state funding to students at public universities, colleges

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri House of Representatives budget committee is considering a bill Wednesday that would link state funding to student enrollment at public universities and colleges.

This means universities that educate lots of students, like the University of Missouri System and the Missouri State University, would receive millions in additional state funding.

Governor Mike Kehoe recommended giving MU about $291.4 million for the financial year 2027, according to a spreadsheet from the committee. House Bill 2003, sponsored by the budget committee chair Rep. Dirk Deaton (R-Seneca), recommends giving MU about $449.5 million.

MU has more than 53,000 students across all four campuses, whereas MSU educates a little more than 17,000 students, the second largest state school, according to the committee spreadsheet.

Kehoe proposed funding MSU with $114.9 million, and Deaton's bill proposes an increase that would total $145.1 million, according to the spreadsheet.

"The current funding model has not kept pace with enrollment growth since it was established in the early 1990s, and Missouri State currently receives the second-lowest per-student allocation among Missouri’s public four-year institutions," Missouri State University President Richard Williams said in a statement to ABC 17 News.

President and CEO of the Missouri Community College Association Brian Millner said the current funding formula gives universities and colleges a set amount of funding each year.

Millner said the state currently separates funding for universities and community colleges.

Community college enrollment is rising, according to Millner; they educate about 33% of Missouri students and receive about 19% of the funding. If lawmakers go through with the proposed plan, and enrollment continues to increase, some colleges might receive less funding under the proposed plan than under the current one.

"The community colleges are actually really supportive of the idea of moving away from the status quo and taking a look at how we're funding higher education," Millner said. "We just think it's a really big shift all at once."

This new funding plan could be harmful to smaller universities, and some could lose funding.

For example, Lincoln University in Jefferson City would stand to lose about $8.9 million, dropping the uniersity to $14.8 million, which is down from the governor's proposed $23.7 million. The university also voted to raise tuition by 5% across the board Tuesday.

Truman State University would see its funding cut by over half. The university would go from what it was proposed by the governor $50.9 million to $23.8 million, according to the spreadsheet. Truman has about 2,800 students studying at the university this year.

"As the proposed change has already been met with bipartisan opposition, it is unlikely to become a reality," university spokesperson Travis Miles wrote in an email to ABC 17 News. "It does not account for Truman’s state-mandated role as a public liberal arts and sciences university, nor does it take into consideration Truman consistently has among the state’s highest retention and graduation rates."

At Wednesday's committee hearing, there was bipartisan opposition, with a few Republicans speaking out against the bill when Democrat Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson) proposed an amendment that would change the bill back to what the governor proposed.

"I think that for the entire amount of the money to be allocated for one year based on this FTE [the proposed funding formula] is not beneficial, other than as a wake-up call," Rep. Ed Lewis (R-Moberly) said.

"I love the idea of making a switch, but I'm concerned with some of the costs of those programs being weighted just on students," Rep. Jeff Vernetti (R-Camdenton) said.

Lindsey Baker, a research director from the Missouri Budget Policy, said some students are more costly to educate because of their program.

"So, tying it directly to just student enrollment can be tricky because there are certain programs that are more expensive than other programs, whether it's medical schools or different types of things are more costly than others," Baker said.

MU spokesperson Christopher Ave sent ABC 17 News a statement on the proposed funding bill, and asked to run the statement in full.

"The University of Missouri is grateful for the strong support of the governor and legislature.  We achieve excellence with the resources provided to us from the citizens of the state, our students and their parents. The University of Missouri has the highest graduate rates and job placement rates in Missouri and we continue to bring research breakthroughs that impact the lives of Missourians.  This is reflected in MU being the No. 4 Best Value among all flagships by US News and World Report and among the world’s top universities by Time Magazine. We appreciate the legislature considering new approaches to provide state funding to Missouri’s public universities.  We look forward to working with the governor and legislature on funding approaches that focus on performance and outcomes that benefit Missourians," Ave wrote.