TRENTON, MO – Gov. Jay Nixon today visited North Central Missouri College in Trenton to announce that the maximum award amount for Access Missouri scholarships will increase by nearly 30 percent – to $850 from $660 – for students attending participating 2-year institutions, and by more than 23 percent — to $1,850 from $1,500 – for those attending participating 4-year institutions in the current fiscal year, FY2016.
“College affordability has been a top priority of my administration, and over the past six years Missouri has led the nation in holding down tuition increases at public universities,” Gov. Nixon said. “This substantial increase in Access Missouri scholarship amounts will make college more affordable for thousands of students across the state. As many other states struggle with deficits and gridlock, here in Missouri our commitment to our students and our higher education institutions continues to move our economy forward.”
Access Missouri is a needs-based scholarship program to help students of low-income families attend a participating Missouri college or university, if the student meets the Missouri Department of Higher Education’s eligibility criteria. Approximately 50,000 students receive an Access Missouri scholarship annually.
This increase in scholarship amounts is the result of the state’s fiscally responsible budget management and an improving economy, which allowed the Governor to release funding for Access Missouri in the 2015 fiscal year. Those funds will be used in the upcoming school year.