A day prior to the first gubernatorial face-off, Republican Kenny Hulshof has unveiled his plan for higher education.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof said Missouri has a problem. The state ranks 47 th in expenditures for higher education. Hulshof said that is unacceptable and that if elected he would funnel more money to the state’s colleges and universities as well as increase scholarships to needy students.
During a stop at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Hulshof outlined components of his higher education proposal. The plan would increase the funding for needs-based scholarships that could be used by the student to attend either a public or private institution.
The plan calls for the creation of the Missouri Prosperity Initiative, which will emphasize biotechnology, engineering, math and chemistry. The $5 million initiative would provide funding for schools that could obtain a two-to-one match from either the private sector of philanthropic organizations. Within that initiative, a Missouri Eminent Scholar Endowment Fund would be created for colleges to lure professors who could bring research dollars to their campus.
Hulshof plans to increase funding for the state’s colleges and universities through a new funding formula. The formula would begin in Fiscal Year 2011. It would increase funding to higher education by the rate of inflation, plus two percent.
Hulshof and Democrat Jay Nixon meet for their first face-off today in Columbia before the Missouri Press Association.