Missouri Universities Face December Deadline for New Funding Formula
Missouri higher education officials have until December to create a new university funding formula or risk lawmakers imposing their own plan that institutions won’t like.
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI — Missouri’s public colleges and universities have until December 1 to develop a new funding formula or face a plan imposed by lawmakers that institutions “quite likely will not like,” the state’s higher education commissioner warned during a meeting Wednesday.
Bennett Boggs, commissioner of the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, addressed college presidents during the Coordinating Board for Higher Education meeting at the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. He urged institutional leaders to collaborate with his department in “good faith” as officials work to balance competing interests in the funding overhaul.
“I hope… that we can find a way to reach a consensus that we can present to the legislature, something that we can all agree on. We may not all love it, but it’s something that the legislature will understand,” Boggs said. “Otherwise, I do believe we have some serious risks in front of us, and I don’t take that lightly.”
Legislative Mandate Drives Formula Change
The December deadline stems from language included in the state budget lawmakers passed in May, which requires the department to “develop and submit an objective, formula-driven” model that maintains current funding levels. Governor Mike Kehoe has until the end of June to approve or veto the budget bills.
The legislative mandate to keep state aid at just over $1.1 billion presents the primary challenge for developing the new formula, according to Leroy Wade, the department’s deputy commissioner of operations. “That changes the approach of this entirely from what we would have expected otherwise,” Wade said.
Current System Faces Overhaul
Missouri currently uses a decades-old funding model that begins with the previous year’s appropriation and adds an inflationary factor. The total amount is then distributed among universities, with each institution receiving a predetermined percentage.
Board member Brian Hammons questioned whether a 2023 study on performance funding would influence the development of the new funding formula. The meeting took place in the NextGen Precision Health Building on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.
The pressure to overhaul the funding system reflects broader discussions about how state resources should be allocated among Missouri’s public higher education institutions. Officials emphasized the need to reach consensus before the December deadline to avoid having lawmakers impose their own solution.
The coordinating board meeting highlighted the balance officials must strike between institutional needs and legislative expectations as they work toward the December 1 deadline for the new funding formula.
