The Missouri education system will see an increase of $6.7 million thanks to increased lottery revenue from the $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, Gov. Jay Nixon said in a press release.
The money will be administered during the current fiscal year, which ends June 31.
In Missouri, both K-12 public education and higher education are partially funded through lottery proceeds, with MU getting appropriations each year to cover costs associated with tuition, scholarships and grants, according to MU financial reports.
“The bulk of this money is for transportation costs for K-12 schools,” Nixon’s Press Secretary Scott Holste said. “There is also some money going towards A+ and Access Missouri scholarships as well — $659,000 and $357,500 respectively.”
The money comes at a critical time for higher education in Missouri. In January, Nixon proposed a 12.5 percent decrease in funding for higher education beginning next fiscal year, which starts July 1. This amounts to roughly a $55 million decrease for the UM System next year, according to Nixon’s budget.
The initial cuts sparked student outrage and prompted the Missouri Students Association to start the More for Less campaign. MSA, along with other students, delivered Nixon more than 6,000 signatures in February in protest of the cuts, according to the MSA website.
MSA is planning a rally from 10 a.m. to noon April 26 on the steps of the Capitol to protest the cuts.
“In the last two years, higher education in Missouri has seen a 14.2 percent cut in funding from the state,” the MSA website states. “Next year we face another 7.5 percent in cuts. Losing more than 20 percent of state financial support for higher education in the span of three years is unacceptable, and on April 26 students will bring that message to Jefferson City.”
Something that helped ease the budget cuts was the settlement of a lawsuit between Missouri and various mortgage companies, which allowed Nixon to restore $40 million to the budget, reducing the cuts to 7.5 percent, Nixon said during a speech in Nixa.
At roughly the same time as the settlement, Nixon announced that he was allocating an additional $2.2 million to higher education as a result of higher than anticipated lottery proceeds not related to the recent Mega Millions jackpot.
“I will continue working to ensure that state government lives within its means, and I’m pleased that we’re able to make these additional resources available to have a significant impact on these education programs,” Nixon said in a press release.
Of the money Nixon released in late February, $3 million went immediately to K-12 schools to help offset rising fuel prices. Fuel in the Midwest has risen more than 50 cents per gallon in the past six months and more than $1.20 a gallon in the past two years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“Our public schools and our colleges and universities are preparing Missourians to compete for and succeed in jobs and careers in high-demand fields, and that’s making a real difference for our economy,” Nixon said in the release.