The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority voted, 4 to 2, today to support Gov. Matt Blunt’s plan to sell off $350-million in the agency’s student-loan assets and use the proceeds to finance construction projects at the state’s colleges and universities, the Associated Press reported. For the plan to go into effect, Mr. Blunt, a Republican, now needs approval from state legislators when they reconvene in 2007, a process that could delay the plan nearly a year.
As today’s vote neared, two members of the loan agency’s board resigned to avoid conflicts of interest and to allow a successor to vote on the proposal. A third resigned for health reasons. Just this week, Mr. Blunt announced he would seek legislative approval of the plan because of warnings by the state’s attorney general of a potential lawsuit (The Chronicle, September 9).
Critics of Mr. Blunt’s plan say it could translate into higher costs for college students and their familiies, but the agency has denied that (The Chronicle, September 17). Supporters say spending $350-million on campus infrastructure would improve the quality of higher education in Missouri (The Chronicle, August 29).
