A freeze in undergraduate tuition at Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 year would equal the fourth time in the past eight years that tuition at the school will remain flat.
That’s according to President Clif Smart, who adds that since higher education funding began to drop in 2009 inflation is near 12 percent. And as a result of holding tuition flat for several years, Missouri State has increased tuition by less than the cost of inflation.
“Now that’s not true most places. On average in that same time frame tuition’s g one up 28 percent nationally,” which Smart adds is 2.5 times inflation.
The possibility of a tuition freeze next fall stems from an agreement reached In September between Gov. Jay Nixon and Missouri’s 2- and 4-year schools. Smart, who is also president of the Council on Public Higher Education on Missouri, says the agreement is an effort to restore funding that had been cut from higher education since the recession.
“We put together a proposal that if there was a five percent increase in core funding we would at least get back the money that had been cut from us in the last seven years, and a little tiny bit more.”
The governor agreed to the five percent increase, plus a one percent increase in funding for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. In total, that’s an additional $55.7 million in performance funding for higher education, which would bring the total state funding for higher education to a record $985 million next year.
Smart says that “In return, we have agreed that we [2- and 4-year schools] would limit undergraduate in-state tuition to its current rate, which at Missouri State this year is $205 a credit hour.”
In order for the agreement to come to fruition and tuition to hold steady, the legislature will need to approve the proposal set forth by Gov. Nixon. Smart says should that not happen; it’ll be up to the school’s Executive Budget Committee to consider alternatives.
President Smart says that keeping tuition flat for so many years is a direct reflection of the university’s growth.
“In the last seven years we’ve probably got 2,500 more students that we did then. I think students see both the quality and the value of an education at Missouri State University.”
He says that as neighboring states raise tuition, the price point in Missouri and at MSU has allowed the school to recruit more from the region.
“It’s less expensive to pay out-of-state tuition and come to Missouri State if you live in Illinois [than] pay in-state tuition at any Illinois college.”
Missouri State did increase tuition last year by less than 1 percent, Smart says. He adds that Arkansas and Oklahoma schools raised tuition 4.5 percent last year, while Kansas schools upped the cost by 3-7 percent.
Above, hear the entire conversation with President Smart as part of our monthly program Engaging the Community.