(Jefferson City, MO)  Gov. Jay Nixon and the presidents of Missouri's community colleges delivered some good news today: for the second year in a row, in-state students and their families won't see tuition or academic fees rise by a penny.

     The news of the agreement with the community colleges followed the announcement earlier this week of a similar agreement with the presidents of the state's four-year colleges and universities.

     Under the agreement with Gov. Nixon, Missouri's community colleges have agreed not to impose a tuition increase on in-state students for the 2010-2011 school year. In addition, the Governor said that Linn State Technical College, which is not part of the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA), has also agreed to keep its tuition the same for 2010-2011.

    In return, Gov. Nixon has agreed to maintain higher education funding at approximately 95 percent of the current fiscal year's appropriation.

     This works out to be a reduction of 5.2 percent, or $8 million for the community colleges and Linn State combined. This agreement is subject to approval by the General Assembly and the institutions' governing boards.


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