Higher Education Officials Make Case For More Funding

Governor Bob Holden and the Legislature will soon have to start considering a request from the Coordinating Board for Higher Education for more money. It’s likely to be early in the new year before higher education officials learn how much more Missouri’s money crunch will affect them. The Coordinating Board for Higher Education’s capital improvement recommendations for the 2004 Fiscal Year feature a request for more than $150-Million for the state’s four-year colleges and universities. Associate Commissioner Joe Martin realizes the funding might never come. But, he says the wish-list makes lawmakers aware that higher education has wants for when the times get better. Martin says colleges and universities are fully aware that troubled times could be far from over.