Area colleges earmarked for grant funding under Nixon proposal

Springfield-area colleges stand to gain grant funding in fiscal 2015 under a mental health initiative proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The proposal, dubbed Caring for Missourians: Mental Health, would put $20 million in grants in the hands of Missouri's public colleges and universities. The funding would educate an additional 1,200 students for high-demand mental health care field jobs, according to a news release.

Nixon plans to include the grant funding in his fiscal 2015 budget proposal next month to the General Assembly.

Under the mental health initiative, Missouri State University would receive $1.7 million in grant funding; Ozarks Technical Community College would get $579,228; and Crowder College in Neosho would receive $216,076.

Nixon's Caring for Missourians project was launched in 2009 to increase the number of health care professionals educated in Missouri.

Last week, the governor visited MSU to ask the school - and other public four-year universities statewide - to freeze tuition in exchange for $36.7 million in additional funding toward higher education in his proposed budget.