KIRKSVILLE, MO -- Higher tuition rates will accompany students at Truman State University for the 2011-2012 school year. This coming after Governor Jay Nixon announced a seven percent, or $64 million, reduction in basic aid to higher education institutions across the Show-Me state. The reduction is on top of a 5.2 percent, or $50 million, cut made during the current school year.
“We are certainly sensitive to what families are going through in Missouri” said Truman State University President Troy Paino. “We’re trying to stay true to the governor’s message of trying to afford access and opportunity to higher education to all of Missourians so we will increase tuition but it will be modest.”
Paino said the cut will take an additional $3 million out of their $90 million budget for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year. Under a deal struck by Nixon, higher education institutions agreed to hold their tuition rates to avoid larger budget cuts. That deal expires for the upcoming school year. Many institutions, in addition to Truman, have begun discussing tuition increases. While tuition rates may be going up, Paino is staying optimistic.
“Because of our mission we really focus on sort of the full time students that you don’t see at a lot of the other full time universities” said Paino. “So our numbers for full time enrolled students is actually a large percentage of our student base but I would expect our overall enrolment will stay at least steady into next year.
At the start of the 2010-2011 school year, student enrollment was up nearly six percent.
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