HIGHER ED BARGAIN

When Money magazine ranked Truman State University as one of the best values in the nation, it came as no surprise. The university has consistently landed in the top five for the last three years.

In fact, since the university changed its mission to a liberal arts university, the Kirksville institution of higher learning has garnered considerable national attention.

The ranking underscores what Missourians have known a long time: state-supported universities are a terrific bargain. They combine affordability with high standards.

Money magazine ranks 1,000 universities and colleges based on 16 measures of educational quality. These includes student-faculty ratio and entrance exam scores. These factors are compared with tuition and fees.

This year, Truman State University ranked fourth in the nation. The ranking brings a national spotlight that should aid in recruitment.

The magazine's top 10 best college buys exclude the well-known Ivy League schools. That's because the cost of those schools is staggering. The financial magazine estimates that by the year 2014, four years at an Ivy League university will cost around $460,000.

The Kirksville institution officially became known as Truman State University this July. School officials felt the name change would better reflect a statewide mission for Missouri's main liberal arts campus.

It is a strategy that has paid off for Truman State University, and one that more state-supported institutions may soon follow in Missouri. Already, Southwest Missouri State University has earned a statewide public affairs mission, under a bill signed last year by the governor. The bill also allows Central Missouri State University to get a statewide mission without further legislative action.

The new law also set out criteria for all regional colleges to choose a statewide mission. In this way, university officials feel each institution can gain its own identity and gain a competitive edge.

But despite these changing missions, these state-supported universities must keep their focus of service on their priority clients: Missourians.

Missouri's system of tax-supporfted campuses has worked well because educational has remain affordable and accessible. That mission should never change.