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The state’s budget, signed today, includes consistent core funding and $10 million for the system’s top capital priority

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Missouri Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ leaders today thanked Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Legislature for their support of public higher education and key projects for the university system.

The state’s budget, signed by Parson today, includes $416.2 million in core funding for the UM Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ’s four universities, keeping the university’s state funding stable. The budget includes $10 million to support the anchor facility for the system’s precision health initiative at the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Missouri-Columbia; $400,000 for Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Missouri-Kansas City’s , which helps citizens implement local plans and improve their areas; $250,000 in funding for Missouri Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Science and Technology’s  that provides science, technology, engineering and math curricula and training for K-12 teachers; and $550,000 for a Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Missouri-St. Louis program designed to increase international collaboration and economic opportunity.

“The Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ of Missouri Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ and our four universities are grateful for the support of Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Legislature,” said Jon Sundvold, chair of the UM Board of Curators.“This investment will help us serve Missourians through robust education, research, outreach and economic development — meeting the state’s workforce needs, conducting life-changing research, assisting Missourians through Extension and creating jobs.”

The approximately 265,000-square-foot precision health facility will provide space for 60 principal investigators, about half of whom will be newly recruited in areas such as engineering, medicine, veterinary medicine, animal sciences, and arts and science. The project is the UM system’s top capital priority, and officials are holding a groundbreaking for the research building later this month.

The precision health initiative, a systemwide initiative, relies on expertise from all four universities and will support collaboration among UM scientists, clinicians and entrepreneurs to accelerate the rate at which technologies reach the marketplace and make an impactful difference for health outcomes. 

“Our state’s elected officials have shown that they understand that an investment in public higher education is an investment in the state — an investment that pays rich dividends for all Missourians,” President Mun Choi said. “The precision health initiative will help us totranslate fundamental research from laboratories to effective treatments and devices, which will benefit all Missourians.”

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