Nixon touts college-tuition goals during visit to Central

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon touted his vision for college tuition and voiced displeasure with the Legislature during a visit Thursday to Cape Girardeau Central High School.

He met with nine members of the senior class, in addition to invited journalists, to discuss the importance of higher education and the financial considerations that should be taken into account when planning for college.

“The main reason we’re here today is to talk about the efforts we have in this state to make sure your college is affordable,” Nixon said.

In the last seven years, he told students, tuition costs have risen less in Missouri than any other state institution, and college graduation rates are up 36 percent.

Nixon discussed his budget plans for fiscal year 2017, which included $150 million for elementary and secondary education and $56 million for higher education.

In planning the higher-education funding, he said “through a performance funding model, all the universities agreed that they would freeze tuition for Missouri students this year.”

The budget approved last week by the Missouri House did not include the increase in general revenue for higher-education performance funding, a fact Nixon called “unnecessary and disappointing.”

He said the decision may have been affected by recent troubles at the University of Missouri; however, “the way to deal with that is not to have college tuition go up for every other student in the state of Missouri.”

Nixon also discussed the foundation formula, which determines state funding for public schools.

Nixon said preliminary approval has been given in the Legislature to lower the financial target for state funding for public schools.

“While I’ve increased that amount by $400 million while I’ve been governor, we’re still not to where the formula would say we need to get,” he said.

Nixon said members of the legislature want to pass a bill to lower the amount the public schools would receive.

“If that bill passes, the fully funded amount the state owes to this district ... would drop by $2.4 million a year,” he said.

Nixon asked the students about their college plans and expressed surprise and pleasure in the way they took finances into consideration when making their decisions.

Six of the students have chosen to attend Southeast Missouri State University, several noting the decision was based on affordability.

Two students plan to attend Mineral Area College through the A-plus scholarship program, which Nixon praised as a sound financial choice.

The other two were undecided.

Nixon called the students “good consumers” and said when he was in college, tuition was $360 per semester.

“We didn’t think about debt,” he said.

In the question-and-answer session with the students, Nixon encouraged them to take advantage of every scholarship opportunity available, from signing up for FAFSA to check for need-based scholarships, to connecting with private organizations and the scholarships they offer.

He stressed the importance of ACT scores to colleges, particularly scores above 30.

“They want students with those numbers, and they’ll pay for them,” he said.

He encouraged students to talk at length to their chosen universities about scholarships and the transferability of college credits to determine a feasible educational and financial plan.

“You’re paying a heck of a lot of money,” Nixon said. “You’re entitled to know what you’re getting.”

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.