State higher education commissioner stresses education to create strong workforce

Missouri is at war.

That was the blunt assessment of Zora Mulligan, Missouri’s commissioner of higher education, as she spoke to a group of business leaders and educators in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday afternoon.

“We are at war with other states,” she said and explained how “there are some parts of the State of Missouri where border states are aggressively recruiting our businesses and our citizens. States like Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky are very aggressively courting our best and brightest students and our best companies.”

Mulligan has been in her position since August 2016 and was part of the blending in August of the Missouri Department of Higher Education with the Missouri Division of Workforce Development and the state’s Economic Research and Information Center to create the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, a logical move, she said, because of the strong correlation among education, job training and economic growth.

“An educated workforce,” Mulligan said, “is absolutely essential to regional economic vitality.”

She and other state and regional officials have been traveling throughout Missouri in recent months, talking to employers and community leaders about economic conditions in various areas.

“I think the big takeaway from that was you don’t have to be an economist to know that many parts of Missouri are in trouble,” she told her audience, adding “the data from Missouri historically hasn’t been great.”

In terms of several economic indicators such as wages, productivity and the availability of trained workers, “Missouri lags significantly behind other states in the region.”

For years, Missouri has provided financial support to academically-qualified high school students through programs such as Bright Flight and the A+ Scholarship Program, helping to give them the educational tools and training they need to succeed in the state’s workforce and contribute to Missouri’s economy.

The Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development recently added a new program focusing on the academic and training needs of Missouri’s adult population.

Introduced in the Missouri Legislature by State Rep. Kathy Swan of Cape Girardeau, the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant program became available beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. The program addresses workforce needs by helping adults obtain certificates, degrees or industry-recognized credentials in areas designated as “high need” as determined by several industry and economic indicators.

Fast Track grants are designed to ensure a grant recipient’s tuition and fees are fully covered, when combined with other governmental financial aid.

“I would like to give Kathy Swan the credit she deserves,” Mulligan said. “This legislation was hard to get passed, but Kathy worked hard to make the case for why this is a necessary tool to meet the educational needs of adults in Missouri and really change lives.”

Since it was announced in late August, approximately 600 Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant applications have been received statewide including several applications from adults in the Southeast Missouri region who plan to pursue their educational goals at Southeast Missouri State University, which offers dozens of Fast Track-eligible programs.

“SEMO has been a fantastic partner in this,” Mulligan said. “We’re grateful for SEMO’s partnership, and we’re looking forward to seeing it take off here.”

Grant recipients must maintain Missouri residency and work in the state for three years after they receive their degrees, certificates or other credentials. Otherwise, the grant becomes a loan that must be repaid with interest.

Individuals who are at least 25 years old or those who have not been enrolled in any school within the last two years are eligible to participate. Grants are available to students who have not earned a bachelor’s degree and are planning to enroll either on a part-time or full-time basis.

Grant recipients can also have taxable income of no more than $80,000 if filing jointly or no more than $40,000 if filing under any other tax status.

Mulligan said the Fast Track Workforce program is one more weapon in the state’s economic war with other Midwest states.

“We have to fight,” she said. “A community that waits for opportunity is not going to be a community that succeeds.”

More information about Fast Track Workforce grant eligibility, renewability and the grant application process can be found on the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development website, dhewd.mo.gov.

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