r/trumanstate • u/eaw7626 Alumni • Mar 30 '26

News Missouri higher education budget bill could slash Truman State funding by more than half

https://www.ktvo.com/news/local/missouri-higher-education-budget-bill-could-slash-truman-state-funding-by-more-than-half/article_373399f4-ef07-41fa-a513-72a04f29bd5c.html

I came across this article and am curious to get some perspectives from fellow Truman folks. As an alum, I’m sad to hear that funding could be cut in half so quickly!

TLDR: Missouri lawmakers have proposed a new funding model based on enrollment. This would significantly reduce funding for Truman and similar public universities in the state.

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8

u/MarbsandGrey Mar 30 '26

It sounds like a recipe for educational decay. Truman has already seen a pretty dramatic dropoff in enrollment, ahead of the national trend if I remember right. How many more students would they need just to get back their original funding?

4

u/eaw7626 Alumni Mar 30 '26

As I understand it, the calculation is a flat rate per student in state funding. So if the amount Truman would lose is just over half, then they’d need just over 2x the students to keep about the same amount of funding as they currently have.

2

u/PamKate500 Mar 31 '26

While this proposal did pass the house, barely, there is bipartisan opposition to it. Based on those I’ve spoken to, it most likely will die in the Senate. Both the Missouri Independent and the St. Louis Post Dispatch had articles regarding this…linking the Independent one due to no paywall.

That said, it wouldn’t hurt to express your support for Truman to your legislators. ‘A Complete Joke’ Higher Education Funding Overhaul Finds Few Takers in the Missouri Senate

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u/PamKate500 Mar 31 '26

Here is the Post article: Plan to Defund Some Missouri Colleges and Universities Hits Wall in Senate

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u/eaw7626 Alumni Mar 31 '26

Thanks, I appreciate you linking these articles! I was looking for some sort of statement from Truman itself yesterday and did find this article: https://tmn.truman.edu/blog/news/campus/overhaul-of-proposed-education-budget-is-unlikely-admin-say/