Performance based funding a part of a new higher education funding formula proposal
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Performance based funding a part of a new higher education funding formula proposal

Date: December 10, 2012
By: Taylor Beck
State Capitol Bureau
Links: HB 1731

JEFFERSON CITY - A new part of Missouri higher education funding would be based on performance according to a proposal before the legislature's Joint Committee on Education.

Executive director of the committee, Stacey Preis, presented a higher education funding formula proposal including a new section for performance-based funding. 

The committee has until Dec. 31 of next year to decide on a new funding formula for higher education, but after Monday's proposal no details have been ironed out.

Under the proposal, the state would fund 35 percent of operating costs, of which 90 percent would be automatic and the other 10 percent are based on performance standards.

The Senate Appropriations Chair, Sen. Kurt Schaeffer, R-Columbia, said he was concerned about making sure the state has adequate levels of funding for higher education.

"My personal opinion is that we're cutting the pie into too many pieces, which means that everyone gets too small of a piece," Schaeffer said.

Committee Chairman David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, said he is optimistic about the progress despite the fact nothing is decided upon.

"This is a work in progress," Pearce said. "Our deadline was Dec. 31, 2013 and yet I think we're making very good progress."

The proposed budget was created using information from public hearings, reports from previous task forces and committees, colleagues in education policy and research on higher education funding policy.

During her presentation, Preis divided institutional expenditures into six differently calculated sections. Within these sections, schools are placed into one of five different brackets and compared to other higher education institutions, or "sector peers," in the same level. The brackets are broken down by the highest level of education offered and include technical, associate's, baccalaureate, master's and research level schools. This spending encompasses 71 percent of total expenditures for four-year institutions and 64 percent for two-year institutions.

Preis defined the six sections of spending as:

Legislators and the public are submitting comments and concerns to Preis, and the legislature will be working with this proposal until they can decide on a formula.