Higdon Expecting 3 to 5% Mid-Year Higher Ed Cut

The President of Ozarks Technical Community College tells the KY3 Political Notebook he is expecting Missouri higher education to experience a mid-year budgetary cut of between 3 and 5 percent.

***

"I believe we will be hit with a midyear cut," said OTC President Hal Higdon. "We are hearing it will be between 3 and 5%. We have looked a scenarios of cuts of 15, 20 and 25% next year. Those cuts could cause drastic increases to tuition, closing of high cost programs, loss of jobs, delayed maintenance, delayed equipment costs and will cause programs such as nursing to forgo much needed expansion," Higdon added.

***

Higdon said he hopes he's wrong, but said if higher education is cut at a rate of 15 to 25 percent, "the long-term economic health of our state will be drastically affected."

"When you are 47th in higher education funding, there is not much space left before you are last," Higdon said.

Compared to other community colleges in the state, OTC receives about fifty cents on the dollar.

***EARLIER: Missouri State University plans to address higher ed funding in a media availability Thursday.