Mo. House approves changing Access Missouri amount

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri House members have passed legislation that would eventually give students at public and private colleges the same amount in state scholarships.

Lawmakers passed the measure 145-10 Thursday. The bill now goes to the Senate.

The need-based Access Missouri scholarships now provides up to $4,600 a year to students at private colleges, and $2,150 a year to students at state universities.

The differences are meant to account for the higher tuition charged by private institutions and the money appropriated to public universities.

The legislation would cap scholarships for students at all four-year colleges -- both public and private -- at $2,850 a year beginning in 2014. It also lowers the grade point average requirement for the first two years of college.

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Scholarship bill is HB1473.

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov