\n<\/p>\n
Some college and university leaders are worried for the future of their institutions as the Missouri Senate considers a spending bill for fiscal year 2027 that would reshuffle funding for public higher education in the state. The bill, which narrowly passed the House last week, would mean major cuts for some institutions, including the state\u2019s two historically Black universities.<\/p>\n
The legislation would base state funding to public colleges and universities on full-time enrollments. The bill\u2019s sponsor, Missouri representative Dirk Deaton, argued the core funding institutions receive \u201cvaries wildly\u201d because these allocations are primarily based on the amounts institutions have historically received for decades, augmented by their political advocacy over the years. <\/p>\n
For example, Truman State University, a predominantly white liberal arts institution in Kirksville that serves under 4,000 students, receives $18,075 per full-time student, while Missouri State University, a PWI in Springfield that enrolls over 27,000 students, receives $6,589 per full-time student, Deaton pointed out in an op-ed in The Missouri Times<\/em>. Moberly Community College gets $3,058 per full-time student, while St. Louis Community College gets $5,031, even though St. Louis enrolls more students\u2014\u201cnot as pronounced\u201d an effect, Deaton wrote, but still a \u201cproblem.\u201d Deaton\u2019s proposal would give four-year institutions about $8,376 per full-time equivalent enrollment. Two-year institutions would receive about $3,656 per FTE. <\/p>\n \u201cThe General Assembly has a duty to ensure that taxpayer dollars are distributed fairly, transparently, and in a way that reflects where students are actually choosing to attend school,\u201d wrote Deaton, the Republican chairman of the Missouri House Budget Committee. \u201cThe single best indicator for determining where taxpayer dollars should go is to use enrollment data to view where students are choosing to pursue their college education and subsequently directing taxpayer dollars toward those schools.\u201d<\/p>\n But opponents of the funding overhaul argue core funds shouldn\u2019t be primarily determined by enrollment, and a new formula should embrace more performance-based metrics. Otherwise, smaller institutions are in for a lean year, even if they\u2019re succeeding in other ways, critics say.<\/p>\n Missouri Senate president pro tem Cindy O\u2019Laughlin told the Jefferson City News Tribune <\/em>she doesn\u2019t believe the Senate will pass the House\u2019s plan. The bill would halve appropriations to Truman State University, which lies in her district, from more than $50\u00a0million in fiscal year 2026 to about $24\u00a0million.<\/p>\n \u201cNo university can operate on a 50\u00a0percent cut, and to suggest it indicates a lack of serious thought,\u201d she wrote to the News Tribune<\/em>, noting that funding should be \u201cbased on outcomes.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe need to seriously consider the type of graduates we are looking for and prioritize funding accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Large universities, such as Missouri State University and the University of Missouri, stand to benefit if the spending bill becomes law.<\/p>\n Missouri State University president Richard B. Williams voiced his support.<\/p>\n He told Inside Higher Ed <\/em>in a statement that the current funding model hasn\u2019t kept up with enrollment growth since it was established in the early 1990s; as a result, Missouri State receives the second-lowest per-student allocation among the state\u2019s four-year institutions. He thanked lawmakers backing the bill for \u201ctheir leadership in modernizing state funding for public higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis proposal would make a meaningful difference for the students we serve and help ensure we can continue providing an affordable, Missouri-based education that prepares the workforce our state needs,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Christopher Ave, the University of Missouri\u2019s director of media relations and public affairs, expressed more mixed feelings.<\/p>\n He wrote to Inside Higher Ed <\/em>that the university is \u201cgrateful for the strong support of the governor and legislature\u201d and appreciates \u201cthe legislature considering new approaches to provide state funding to Missouri\u2019s public universities.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, \u201cwe believe that funding models should include sound rationale based on enrollment, graduation and placement rates, research activity and awarding of professional degrees, among other performance factors,\u201d Ave said. \u201cWe look forward to working with the governor and legislature on funding approaches that focus on performance and outcomes that benefit Missourians.\u201d<\/p>\n Some higher ed institutions are pushing back, even as they prepare for the possibility of major losses if the legislation passes.<\/p>\n Truman State University officials emphasized that the proposal has been \u201cmet with bipartisan opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not account for Truman\u2019s state-mandated role as a public liberal arts and sciences university, nor does it take into consideration Truman is one of the state\u2019s highest performing public universities and consistently has among the highest retention and graduation rates,\u201d the statement read. \u201cTruman State University is precisely the kind of educational institution the citizens of Missouri expect to support with their tax dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n The state\u2019s HBCUs, Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State University, would also face sizable cuts.<\/p>\n Lincoln University, which reported 2,256 students last fall, could lose about $10\u00a0million in core funding.<\/p>\n John B. Moseley, Lincoln\u2019s president, wrote to Inside Higher Ed <\/em>that he\u2019s thankful for the state\u2019s past investments in the historically Black land-grant university, which \u201chave helped drive significant, measurable progress in enrollment, retention and student success.\u201d But he worries about those gains slowing.<\/p>\n The proposal raises \u201cserious concern,\u201d as \u201ccuts of this magnitude could disproportionately impact institutions like ours and the populations we serve,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe any funding model should reflect institutional mission and the students served, or it risks undermining the outcomes the state has worked to strengthen. We remain engaged and committed to working with state leaders to support strategic investment and long-term success for Missouri\u2019s public institutions.”<\/p>\n For Harris-Stowe State University, the legislation could pose an existential threat, said President LaTonia Collins Smith. The university expects a $5\u00a0million reduction in its core funding, which would amount to a roughly 40\u00a0percent cut.<\/p>\n Harris-Stowe already receives the lowest level of state funding among four-year institutions in the state, she said. Should the legislation become law, Collins Smith would have to consider laying off employees, raising tuition costs and cutting academic programs \u201cwe worked really hard to add and to build\u201d to align with the state\u2019s workforce needs. She worries that already vulnerable students will bear the negative consequences.<\/p>\n She stressed that the institution is small\u2014about 1,080 students, with 934 attending full-time\u2014but most students are eligible for Pell Grants, federal financial aid for low-income students. The college disproportionately serves first-generation students and older learners taking classes part-time or earning certifications because of job and family responsibilities, which count against the university under the proposed FTE funding model.<\/p>\n Collins Smith said she\u2019s not opposed to a new funding formula that takes performance into account, but it \u201cshould consider the diverse types of institutions that we have in the state of Missouri.\u201d<\/p>\n Institutions \u201ccurrently serving the marginalized populations are the ones who are not necessarily benefiting from this new model,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Harris-Stowe \u201cprides itself on\u00a0\u2026 providing a high-quality education that is affordable,\u201d Collins Smith added. Having to raise tuition would compromise its mission. \u201cBut if we continue down this pathway, and we\u2019re not able to adequately fund the university, the conversation becomes very real. What happens to Harris-Stowe?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some college and university leaders are worried for the future of their institutions as the Missouri Senate considers a spending bill for fiscal year 2027 that would reshuffle funding for public higher education in the state. The bill, which narrowly passed the House last week, would mean major cuts for some institutions, including the state\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[3371,495,5053,9037,177,11819],"class_list":{"0":"post-47761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-funds","9":"tag-higher","10":"tag-lawmakers","11":"tag-missouri","12":"tag-public","13":"tag-shuffling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Winners and Losers<\/h2>\n