The Bridge To Good

When I was a student at Rock Bridge High School, attending college was not optional; it was my destiny.

I’m the son of college professors, and my parents taught me at a young age that higher education is the bridge to all things good in life. Indeed, the University of Missouri’s business school provided me with an educational foundation that led to a rewarding career in the emerging high-tech field. Eventually, that path led me right back to Columbia to lead the great University of Missouri System.

A state problem, a national problem

For me, attending college was a given, but for too many of our state’s residents, it is not. A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education showed that just 39.3 percent of Missourians ages 24 to 35 have some sort of post-secondary degree. From a national perspective, that puts us squarely in the middle but significantly behind two of our important border states Illinois and Kansas, which have rates of 45.3 and 42.3, respectively.

Research has shown that higher education attainment plays a significant factor in the local economy. Businesses — especially those companies outside the service sector — can’t open shop if they can’t find the educated workforce they need. Quite simply, supporting higher education makes good sense for those of us who care about our state’s economy.

More than just a border state issue, this is a national problem. As the Kansas City Star reported last month, the United States, once the leader in college-educated residents, now ranks 16th, behind countries such as South Korea, Canada, Russia and Japan.

We must do better if we are to meet the governor’s and president’s goal to have 60 percent of working-age adults with a post-secondary education by 2020. We must do better if we are to put our state on an economic growth trajectory.

Culture and affordability

As president of the University of Missouri System, this goal of attainment is a focus for me. I believe there are several obstacles to getting where we need to be, whether a student attends a university, a community college or a trade school.

One is cultural. Missourians, especially those of us who have benefitted from higher education, must step up our support of higher education in conversations with our children, in the community and with our political leaders. But for parents struggling to make ends meet, I know a major hurdle boils down to affordability.

The good news is that undergraduate tuition at MU is less than the average of similar schools in surrounding states. We have also increased financial aid for students. As a matter of fact, during the past decade, the system’s four universities have almost doubled institutional aid for undergraduates.

On average, undergraduate students pay 50 percent of the tuition and required fee sticker price. Our neediest students — those with family income levels less than $40,000 — pay 20 percent of the sticker price.

Still, there is no doubt that many Missourians struggle to afford to send their sons and daughters to college. As a university, we are doing everything we can to make a college education affordable. It is our mandate to lower costs while still maintaining the quality education Missourians want and expect from us. However, the facts are that we are a low-tax state, and we have not prioritized higher education. Compared to other states, Missouri ranks near the bottom of the nation when looking at per capita spending on higher education.

As a result, the university has substantially reduced its expenditures, instituted hiring restrictions, eliminated positions, implemented employee contributions to the pension plan, foregone needed purchases of goods and services and foregone millions of dollars in badly needed repairs to its facilities. At the same time that revenue from the state has been decreasing, costs for utilities, information technology, health care benefits and supplies have been increasing.

My dream for the citizens of our state is to have the only obstacle to college be studying hard and having the perseverance to succeed. It’s my hope that we can work together so that more of our state’s residents have the opportunity to attend college — that bridge to all things good.