What a revolutionary idea. Of course, this is the way it has been done in the private sector since well, forever.

Alex Stuckey of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

College presidents should answer for schools’ success or failure, lawmaker says

JEFFERSON CITY • Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, doesn’t want to close Missouri colleges and universities, he just wants them to answer for their shortfalls.

And he believes those shortfalls need to be reflected in performance funding.

“There are 13 institutions competing for public money, some do a good job, others don’t,” Schaefer said at the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this morning. “This is the time to look at that.”

The state has about $800 million for higher education funding, Schaefer said.

Although Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, brought a bill addressing higher education performance funding to the Senate floor last week, Schaefer said the bill was not rigorous enough.

In Pearce’s bill, 90 percent of the annual increases in appropriations for the previous fiscal year’s funding must be based on performance measures.

Also, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education must develop at least five performance measures for each public, four-year institution and State Technical College of Missouri. Those measures must be evaluated every three years.

The bill was laid over.

“Something’s gotta give,” Schaefer said last week on the floor. “What we need to do is have a more comprehensive discussion about what each institution does and how they justify their existence.”

That happened today. University presidents from across the state came to Jefferson City today to speak in front of the committee about everything from graduation rates to loan default rates.