This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 21, 2009 - When Toi Evans heard the new Missouri governor, Jay Nixon, was on campus at Harris-Stowe State University Wednesday morning, she had no idea he was bringing news of relief from tuition increases that have been the bane of students like Evans and a constant headache for university officials.
During a sweep across the state, Nixon visited three college campuses to announce that students at public colleges and universities would be spared from tuition hikes in the 2010 fiscal year.
Nixon told an audience at Harris-Stowe's Emerson auditorium that raising tuition wasn't in the state's best interest, partly because Missouri needs to keep students in school to develop a well-trained workforce.
"We must ensure that Missouri's workforce is trained and prepared for the jobs of the future, and Missouri students must have access to an affordable four-year degree," he said.
On Friday, Nixon announced that the tuition freeze would also cover two-year community colleges. He made the announcement during a visit to Missouri State University in Springfield. The institution operates a campus in West Plains, which offers some two-year degree programs.
Nixon said in a statement, "I am committed to supporting all our higher education institutions, including four-year schools, community colleges and technical schools, in their efforts to develop a workforce that will make Missouri a leader in the 21st-century economy. This is an economic investment that will pay off many times over in the years to come."
Missouri State's president, Michael Nietzel, said Nixon's plan was "innovative" and showed the new governor wanted to make sure higher education and workforce development were priorities during "challenging economic times."
Nixon said on Friday that that while students in many other states are likely to see double-digit tuition increases, "Missouri students can rest assured that their tuition rates will stay the same. It will take more of these innovative, collaborative agreements to get our economy moving in the right direction."
Heading off tuition hikes, he said, resulted from a pledge by public colleges and universities not to raise tuitions and fees during the 2009-2010 school year in exchange for Nixon giving them the same level of state appropriations they got during the previous school year. The agreement will require that the Legislature go along.
The announcement was especially good news to Harris-Stowe President Henry Givens, who had warned last year that raising tuition was not an option for many of the first-time, generally low-income students his university serves.
In response to Nixon's announcement, Givens said, "This is going to mean a lot to all of our institutions, not just Harris-Stowe."
During the 1999-2000 school term, Nixon said, tuition at the University of Missouri at Columbia was about $4,500 a year for in-state students. In a decade, tuition has risen to almost $8,500.
If tuition had risen even 7.5 percent in the next year, an amount that Nixon said was below the projected national average of 8 percent to 10 percent, Missouri students attending Mizzou would have been asked to pay more than $9,100 a year in tuition. Nixon used that example to underscore his effort to hold the line on tuition increases in keeping with his campaign promise to make college more affordable.
A chart supplied by Nixon showed that tuition at Mizzou and the University of Missouri at St. Louis has risen as much as 18.1 percent a year in the past decade. The 18.1 percent increase occurred during the 2003-04 school term. That same year, tuition rose 7.9 percent at Harris-Stowe. But that was mild increase for Harris, which raised tuition 31.9 percent during the 2002-03 school term.
The governor's announcement was good news for students such as Evans, 21, a junior who is majoring in business administration.
"When they raised tuition (4.5 percent) last year, I was really upset," she said. "I'm really pleased by what I heard this morning. It was a surprise. It means I can attend college for the same amount as before. I didn't know what he (Nixon) was going to say, but I wasn't expecting him to say tuition wouldn't go up."
Actually, some students had been informed of the governor's announcement. One was Ashley Frost, who joined Nixon, Givens, UMSL Chancellor Tom George and other students on the stage when Nixon made the announcement.
"Growing up, I wanted to attend college," she said. "But every time tuition goes up, I worry about my future. I truly appreciate the leadership Gov. Nixon has shown today. Thank you. You've made a lot of difference."
Nixon pointed out that students at Missouri public colleges and universities should feel relieved when they consider what's happening in other states. He cited the cases of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for tuition hikes of 13 percent and Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire's proposal to raise tuition by 7 percent in her 2009-11 biennial budget.
In addition to stopping by Harris-Stowe to make the announcement, Nixon visited Mizzou, where he was joined by Gary Forsee, president of the University of Missouri System. Nixon was to make a similar announcement this afternoon at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Following the governor's visit to the Columbia campus, the university system issued a statement, saying Nixon's action was significant partly because it went against the national trend of declining support for higher education, followed by tuition hikes that are common during a recession.
Nixon's plan means the university system has "the opportunity to plan appropriately while working to ensure the university's core missions of teaching, research, service and economic development are not jeopardized," a statement said.
