For the second year in a row, Lincoln University met all five of its "performance-based funding criteria" required by state law.
That will mean additional funding in LU's state appropriation for the 2016-17 budget year that begins next July 1.
State lawmakers will write the budget during the legislative session that begins Jan. 6.
Missouri's Higher Education department notified LU officials the Jefferson City school met its five targets:
• Increasing the first-time freshmen successfully completing 24 credit hours in their first academic year, which increased from 32.2 percent to 36.8 percent.
• Raising the first-year retention of first-time, full-time students who live in the school's residential halls from 37.7 percent to 43.3 percent.
• Increasing total degrees awarded (with weighting for the science, technology, engineering and math - or STEM - courses) from 1,574 to 1,590.
• Improvements in the assessment of general education.
• The percentage of the school's total expenditures spent on LU's "core" mission.
LU administrators reported the university exceeded the benchmarks on three of the targets and saw improved performance in all five target areas.
"Meeting these five targets will net additional funding for the university in the state budget process," Said Sewell, LU's provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, noted in a news release. "While the additional resources are welcomed and will be used to continue to meet our university goals, this high achievement for the second consecutive year speaks to a larger trend that is taking place at Lincoln University: We are becoming a university of distinction."
LU President Kevin Rome added: "The results of the hard work of the entire Lincoln University family are evident in these numbers.
"What this tells us is that our students are committed to not only starting an education, but finishing their education.
"It also shows we have dedicated faculty and staff who believe in student success and in furthering the mission of our university, which is to provide a quality education in a student-centered environment."
Beginning with the 2013-14 budget, state higher education institutions receive base appropriations, with additional funding based on their performance in five target areas.
By meeting all five targets, Lincoln University is positioned to receive 100 percent of its performance-based funding.
The amount of performance-based funding will be decided as part of the budget-writing process.