Danny Spewak / KCOU News / September 1, 2010
A down economy could mean a tuition hike for in-state undergraduates, according to an MU spokesperson.
With Missouri facing an enormous budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, Christian Basi of the MU News Bureau said the in-state tuition freeze will likely conclude.
“Given the information that we have now, we don’t anticipate being able to hold the tuition freeze,” Basi said.
Two years ago, Gov. Jay Nixon’s office promised not to cut funds for higher education as long as in-state tuition remained stable. Although the state did cut funding by five-percent this year, the tuition freeze remained intact.
The policy will probably not survive for a third year, however– not with Missouri’s current financial crisis, which Basi said will force the state to reduce appropriations dramatically. Coupled with the expected decrease in enrollment next year, which Basi attributes to a smaller graduating class of high school seniors in Missouri, a lift of the in-state tuition freeze may be necessary to raise revenue.
Filed: 6:28 p.m. Sept. 1, 2010
