Southeast Missouri State officials respond to higher ed budget cuts - Erin Ragan, Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State University could deal with a $5.2 million budget reduction under Gov. Jay Nixon's proposal to cut 12.5 percent from higher education in fiscal 2013. Before Tuesday night's State of the State address, Nixon announced $89 million would be cut from public universities under the proposal, the largest amount to be cut from an area of the state budget with the exception of a $191 million cut to Medicaid. Across Missouri on Wednesday, university officials and legislators responded to the proposal. Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said Nixon's proposed cuts for university budgets and a $5 million increase to K-12 education funding show a pattern of "decimating higher education and treading water elsewhere."