(From Gov. Jay Nixon)
Gov. Jay Nixon today was joined by Missouri State University President Clif Smart and Commissioner of Higher Education Zora Mulligan in Springfield to announce the state is making $1.875 million available to complete the renovation and expansion of Glass Hall, which houses the university’s College of Business. This project includes a complete renovation and expansion of the existing facility, with a 37,000 square-foot addition featuring work rooms, an advising center, a career center, and a simulation of the New York Stock Exchange.
“Through fiscal discipline and a growing the economy, we are able to make targeted investments in higher education so that Missouri colleges and universities don’t have to raise tuition,” Gov. Nixon said. “As a result, Missouri has seen a 36 percent increase in college graduates while leading nation in holding down tuition increases. We are proud to build on this progress by supporting this important project here at Missouri State University.”
Gov. Nixon has made higher education quality and affordability a priority of his administration. In 2010, Gov. Nixon convened a Higher Education Summit and called on higher education leaders to adopt an agenda focused on four key areas: affordability and attainment; quality and effectiveness; collaboration; and performance funding. Over the last five years, significant progress has been achieved in all of them.
Answering the Governor’s call to make higher education more efficient and effective, higher education institutions voluntarily eliminated 118 non-productive degrees and redesigned several large undergraduate courses to make them more efficient and effective.
This year also marks the fourth tuition freeze Gov. Nixon has secured since taking office in 2009. According to the most recent data available from the College Board, tuition and required fees at Missouri’s public universities increased by just nine percent between the 2008-09 and 2015-2016 academic years, the smallest increase in the nation. By comparison, the average increase nationally over the same period was 33.5 percent.
In addition, the Governor has worked with Missouri’s community colleges to increase training opportunities for Missourians through initiatives like Training for Tomorrow, MoManufacturingWINS, and MoHealthWINS. These and other training initiatives leveraged more than $100 million to prepare thousands of Missourians for high-paying jobs in areas like health care and advanced manufacturing.
Gov. Nixon’s Innovation Campus initiative has been nationally recognized for creating partnerships to offer accelerated, high-impact degrees at a reduced cost. The goal of the Innovation Campus program is to train students for career opportunities in high-demand fields while cutting the time it takes to earn a college degree and reducing student debt.
This past June, Gov. Nixon signed House Bills 2017 and 2018, bipartisan legislation which provide $792 million to continue essential renovations across the state as well funding for the Governor’s $200 million Building Affordability Initiative to address deferred maintenance projects at colleges and universities across the state. Included in this legislation is nearly $19 million for improvements and upgrades at Missouri State University’s campuses in Springfield and West Plains.
Gov. Nixon’s emphasis on college affordability has also helped to strengthen and grow Missouri’s economy. The most recent jobs report showed that the state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5.1 percent. The report also showed Missouri gained 50,900 jobs over the past 12 months and that 2,838,500 Missourians are now employed – another record high set during the Governor’s administration.
During Gov. Nixon’s administration, Missouri has also paid down hundreds of millions of dollars in state debt. When the Governor leaves office next month, state government will still have lower levels of state-issued debt than when the Governor first took office in 2009.
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