Before the Senate Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Dan Brown (R-16), èßäappSystem President Mun Choi joined other higher education leaders to testify in support of sponsored by Senator Caleb Rowden (R-19). The bill would modify the policy on tuition restrictions that adversely affect public institutions of higher education. Rowden’s legislation would increase the flexibility for universities to collect tuition revenues to provide financial support for services that enhance student success, research and engagement opportunities.
President Choi also testified to the House Subcommittee on Education chaired by Representative Lyle Rowland (R-155). Choi discussed new developments on all four campuses, including recent affordability initiatives. In addition, Choi provided an overview of the collaborative programs contained in the èßäappSystem budget request. Of those programs, he made special mention of the Springfield Clinical Campus, a partnership with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Mercy and CoxHealth and èßäapp State University among others. The Springfield Clinical Campus was established by the MU School of Medicine to train physicians and meet the growing need of physicians in èßäapp counties. The èßäappSystem was commended by many on the committee for its strong leadership.
President Choi's testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee on SB912
I want to thank Chairman Brown for this opportunity to speak to the committee. And I also want to thank Senator Caleb Rowden for sponsoring this bill. Your support for public higher education is greatly appreciated
During the past 11 months, I’ve made a commitment to all of you to be more efficient, collaborative, transparent and most importantly, accountable to all of you and the citizens of èßäapp!
We will continue our strong efforts to reduce administrative overhead and make investments in the academic enterprise. But as an organization, we are facing a very difficult road ahead. In FY17, our appropriations were at $465M and for FY19, the proposed funding is at $376M. The proposed budget will bring our funding to the 1998 level in real dollars and 1970 level in nominal dollars.
The proposed cuts will lead to larger class sizes, higher student to faculty ratios, lower graduation rates, elimination of critical academic and research programs, departures of productive faculty, and èßäapp students pursuing their studies out of state
State support and tuition are the two most important sources of revenue for any University. In 2017, èßäapp ranked near the bottom at $180/per capita in Higher Ed spending. In comparison, Arkansas spent $335/per capita and Nebraska spent $405/per capita. During the period between 2008 to 2015, Arkansas and Nebraska increased tuition above CPI by 18% and 16%, respectively. èßäapp increased tuition by only 7%, which was the 4th lowest in the United States. With stronger support from state appropriations and increases in tuition that are unfettered by caps, the universities in the border states have made investments to attract èßäapp students. In fact, with the exception of Illinois, the net export of èßäapp students has increased to each of our border states during the past 10 years. This will lead to further brain drain in our state that will affect future economic development
The reductions in state appropriations and the tuition cap of SB389 have placed èßäapp universities and their students at a disadvantage. Relief from SB389 would allow the University to hire more faculty in critical areas, invest in more scholarships and programs that lead to student success
As we request changes in the tuition cap through SB912, we will continue to reduce the cost of attendance for those students with the greatest needs.
We appreciate your continued support and look forward to working together through this session. Thank you for your service to èßäapp.
Reviewed 2024-03-11