Governor signs higher-education bill at MSU

Senate Bill 389 enacts the Lewis & Clark Discovery Initiative, which allows the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to sell some of its out-of-state student loan assets for $350 million. About $335 million of that – including $34.7 million for MSU – will go to public schools for capital improvement projects, and the remaining $15 million will be used for the schools’ technological research.

The bill also creates the Access Missouri Scholarship and increases statewide funding for need-based scholarships to $72.5 million, from $27.5 million. Through the scholarship, the number of students receiving aid is estimated to increase to 3,000, from 595.

Also in the bill is a 5.4 percent increase in MSU’s operating budget.

“The investment we are making at Missouri State University will ensure that learning centers like Jordan Valley Innovation Center will provide learning and research opportunities for students, as well as access to cutting-edge research and technologies to prepare tomorrow’s leaders to meet the challenges of the global economy,” Blunt said in a news release.