Mo. lawmakers may buck Nixon's higher ed cuts - Associated Press

Missouri university officials warned Wednesday of potential tuition increases, course reductions and employee furloughs if Gov. Jay Nixon's newly proposed 12.5 percent funding cut for higher education comes to fruition. Nixon's budget proposal would drop state aid to public colleges and universities to its lowest level since 1997, compounding the financial strain on schools that already have been forced to trim costs during several consecutive years of flat or declining state funding. On Wednesday, a key lawmaker pledged to try to block the governor's plan and college officials said it won't be possible to account for the collective $106 million cut merely by administrative efficiencies.