Dobbins praises Blunt's education plan, says it will benefit Southeast

Southeast Missouri State University students would benefit from Gov. Matt Blunt's plan to increase funding for need-based financial aid for college students and to revise the formula for distributing that aid, school president Dr. Ken Dobbins said Thursday.

Blunt proposes that the state spend an additional $45 million for financial aid for college students on top of the current $27.5 million funding level.

In addition, Dobbins said the revised formula would provide financial aid for the most needy students because the expected family contribution would be considered in calculating the aid available to any particular student.

In the past, Missouri's need-based financial aid program largely excluded students at Southeast and other colleges with relatively low tuition costs, he said.

"The proposed new formula corrects that imbalance," said Dobbins.

Under the governor's plan, almost 1,900 Missouri resident undergraduate students at Southeast or 24 percent of the school's total number of undergraduates would be eligible for need-based aid, school officials said.

In contrast, only 300 students or about 4 percent of Southeast's undergraduates currently are eligible for the Gallagher and College Guarantee grants, Dobbins said.

The governor also has proposed a 4.2 percent increase in state appropriations for Southeast. Dobbins said that would help the university minimize tuition increases.

Dobbins said a third part of Blunt's proposal -- the Lewis and Clark Initiative -- is desperately needed by Missouri's public colleges. Under the plan, funds provided by the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority would be used to help pay for long-deferred construction and renovation projects on college campuses, he said.

Southeast would receive $17.2 million to complete the state's share of funding for the River Campus arts school development and $4.5 million for a life-science facility at the school's planned research park.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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