Politicians who want to teach college students are in luck in Missouri: A new law prevents public universities from rejecting former state legislators for faculty positions just because they don’t have a graduate-level degree. Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, recently signed legislation that contained the measure, which has drawn criticism from some faculty members and legislators who hold advanced degrees, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“It doesn’t look good when legislators with term limits open up job opportunities for ourselves after retirement,” State Sen. Jeff Smith told the newspaper. Mr. Smith, a Democrat, is an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis and holds a doctoral degree in political science.

The provision was pushed by State Sen. Timothy P. Green, a Democrat who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In the newspaper article, Mr. Green rejected the notion that the measure was self-serving. He said that his college class on political science bore little resemblance to his real-world experience of the governing process. Politicians’ first-hand knowledge of campaign contributions, the influence of special interests, and other topics should make them qualified to teach about politics, he said. —Sara Hebel