Their boards still have to agree, but Missouri college and university presidents promised Gov. Jay Nixon Monday they would freeze tuition for the 2016-17 school year - their fourth tuition freeze in seven years.
And the governor promised to seek the highest level of state funding for higher education in state history, in the 2016-17 state budget he'll propose in January.
"My budget for fiscal year 2017 will include a $55.7 million increase in performance funding for the operating budgets of these institutions," Nixon told reporters at a news conference in front of the Governor's Mansion's front steps, with many of the state's college and university presidents standing behind him.
"With this 6 percent increase, institutional funding for Missouri public higher education institutions will reach $985 million - an all-time, historic high."
Don Claycomb, State Technical College of Missouri president, said the proposed budget increase made the tuition freeze an easy choice.
"We have dealt with tuition freezes when we didn't have any significant, off-setting dollars at all," he explained. "In this case, we do have off-setting dollars, and when you look at 6 percent, (this) was good for us."
Lincoln University President Keven Rome missed Monday's meeting with the governor, because he was in Washington, D.C.
But, he told the News Tribune: "I applaud the decision and believe it is good for our students, their families, and the state of Missouri. ... It provides greater opportunities for the academic and co-curricular activities our institutions need to prepare tomorrow's leaders."
Tim Wolfe, president of the four campus University of Missouri system, told reporters: "We're very excited about this announcement. We think it positions us well, and gives us the opportunity to invest in the areas that we want to invest in."
Wolfe added: "We perform over 90 percent of the research done by all public institutions in the state, on one of our four campuses.
"That research changes people's lives (and) affects the productivity of our largest industries, like agriculture."
Cliff Smart, president of Missouri State University, Springfield, and this year's president of the 13-campus state Council on Public Higher Education, or COPHE, said Nixon's budget proposal would restore "all of the (higher education) funding cuts made necessary by the economic downturn."
Smart also noted the schools' previous three agreements to freeze tuition at the previous year's levels has resulted in "the lowest tuition increases in the last six years, of any state in the country."
Nixon said the "average tuition increase nationally was more than quadruple what Missouri's been over the same period."
The presidents also pledged to spend more than $9 million of the proposed budget increase on improvements to "programs and initiatives related to science, technology, engineering and math - or STEM - projects," Nixon reported. "That's where the fastest-growing, highest-paying jobs are - so we're putting more dollars toward helping students earn degrees in these fields."
Smart said there currently are "five jobs available now in the STEM fields, for every qualified worker - and almost all of these jobs require a post-secondary credential."
The governor told reporters he's "real confident" the Legislature will support his increased higher education budget.
"They want to invest in jobs. They want to invest in education," Nixon said.
Ron Chesbrough, St. Charles Community College president and chairman of the Missouri Community College Association's council of presidents and chancellors, told Nixon: "We understand that there are limited resources and many needs.
"Academic research, Missouri's business community, our students and, frankly, just common sense tell us that investing in education is one of the smartest investments we can make in our state's future."