Columbia campus to take $20 million hit from governor’s cuts, MU leader says

Cuts Gov. Eric Greitens made to education will cost the University of Missouri in Columbia $20 million, interim chancellor Hank Foley said Wednesday.

Foley discussed the cuts in a note to MU faculty and staff.

He said the lost dollars include money intended for the School of Medicine class expansion and a Springfield Clinical Campus project.

“Simply put, because of these cuts, we will have about $20 million less to spend this year than we budgeted for last summer,” Foley said.

MU is not alone — Missouri universities must absorb a $55.9 million cut, while community colleges will see $11.9 million chopped from their core funding.

For the University of Missouri-Kansas City, that will mean a $5.8 million reduction in its core operating budget.

Colleges have said it’s too early to determine whether the cuts will cost jobs or lead to tuition increases around the state.

Foley said MU leaders are working on this financial challenge “and discussing ways to best fill this gap before the end of the fiscal year.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Columbia campus to take $20 million hit from governor’s cuts, MU leader says."