Speaking at the Springfield Business Development Corp. annual meeting, the governor outlined some budget cuts the state must make to begin to plug an estimated $500 million hole in next year’s budget.
Gov. Nixon may partially plug that gap by diverting financial assistance to students at private institutions – a move students and administrators at the state’s independent colleges and universities — including four Baptist institutions — have decided to fight.
Missouri is reportedly the first state to consider cutting off aid to private school students.
A public letter-writing campaign and telephone bank drew almost 600 students, several faculty and staff, and a few parents at Missouri Baptist University’s St. Louis campus March 22. The turnout also caught the attention of most of the area’s media, including the Associated Press.
In his Springfield speech, the state’s top politician pointed to “vital” services that cannot be cut, such as the Highway Patrol and public school teachers.
Cuts, then, must come from nonessential services, including funding that gives students more college choices, he said.
“We also need to make changes in another well-intentioned area: financial aid for higher education,” Nixon told the Springfield business community. “Currently, many of our state college scholarship programs — both for merit and for need — provide financial support to students whether they choose to attend public or private colleges. In some cases, students at private schools actually get larger scholarships than students at public institutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment