Mo. Senate maintains tuition freeze

The money for higher education will come from managed care providers.

By Will Guldin

Published April 16, 2010

In an about face, the Missouri Senate restored a portion of higher education money Wednesday and put Gov. Jay Nixon's tuition freeze back in place.

The $14.7 million in funding was restored when the full Senate passed the higher education budget. The Senate rebooted the freeze agreement by taking away a tax exemption for managed care providers.

"I would say we were very fortunate and glad to have the funding restored to the university," said Joe Karl, legislative director for the Associated Students for the University of Missouri.

Karl lobbies on behalf of students at the state level.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, said the money from this tax would get enough revenue to cover this funding, if not more.

Nixon's agreement, made last semester, means tuition rates for in-state, undergraduate students will not increase if higher education funding is not cut by more than $50 million.

When the Missouri House passed the higher education budget, the freeze was still in place, but as the bill moved through the Senate, the Appropriations Committee cut $14.7 million more from higher education. These cuts, totaling almost $65 million, broke the tuition freeze agreement.

During the bill's debate, Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said the senators had to make some tough decisions.

"I think we all share the concern about raising tuition on students across the state of Missouri at a time when they can ill afford to do that," Schaefer said.

Although Schaefer voted for the budget, Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, said there would be consequences for restoring this funding.

"Next year, we're not going to be able to fund higher education at this level," Engler said. "We're going to have to expect them to raise tuition and everybody needs to know it now."

Karl said Mayer, along with Schaefer and Engler, played major roles in restoring the funding.

"He's doing a great job, I'd say, in making sure students aren't having their tuition raised this year," Karl said of Schaefer.

This was not the Senate's tuition deal, said Sen. Timothy Green, D-St. Louis County. Green voted for the budget but said the Senate was trying to balance the budget and the cut should stay in place for the time being.

"It's a house of cards," Green said. "Don't start pulling the cards out at this stage of the game because you have a few more piles of cards to place on the decks."

Karl said though the deal appears safe, it is hard to tell if another will be made next year.

"Any cut to higher education is going to hurt the state in the long run," Karl said. "So in an optimal situation, we wouldn't want to see any decrease in higher education funding. But with the way the budget is looking for next year, that may not be possible."

Next, the budget moves to a conference committee where members of the House and Senate will hammer out differences in the two versions of the bill to send a unified proposal to the governor's desk. On Friday, the UM system Board of Curators will set tuition for the coming year.