Jay Nixon surrounded by higher education officials outside his mansion.

JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday, Sept. 21, outlined his first proposal for the FY 2017 budget: an additional funding incentive to entice Missouri colleges and universities to hold tuition rates at their current levels.

The plan would ask lawmakers to approve a $55.7 million increase for Missouri's two-and four-year colleges that would bring Missouri higher education funding to $985 million.

'Under my budget, Missouri undergraduates won't pay a penny more in tuition next year," Nixon said. "This tuition freeze is good for students, families and our economy as a whole."

In addition to freezing undergraduate tuition, the proposal would require colleges and universities to dedicate at least $9.2 million of the budget increase to programs related to science, technology, engineering and math. A written release by Nixon indicated that 60 percent of job opening require basic knowledge in these areas and 40 percent of job openings require advanced knowledge in these four areas.

Nixon was joined by 23 presidents and chancellors from two-and four-year colleges across the state in making the announcement in front of the Missouri Governor's Mansion.

Missouri State University President Clif Smart, who also serves as president of the Council on Public Higher Education in Misosuri said "Missouri's public untiversities are dedicated to keeping college affordable."

Ron Chesbrough, president of St. Charles Community College and chair of the Missouri Community College Association's President/Chancellors Council, said "This significant investment would enable Missouri's community colleges to freeze tuition next year and to continue delivering quality, affordable education."

The increase would reflect a 6 percent boost in higher education funding and bring state budget spending on higher education to an all-time high.

The funding proposal would have to be approved by lawmakers as part of their deliberation on the state budget that will be taken up in January. The budget would cover the 2017 fiscal year that will begin July 1, 2017.

"I'm really confident that the legislature wants to invest in jobs and education," Nixon said. "They know the connection between the economy and our schools is a tight one."

The tuition freezes would also have to be approved by the respective governing boards of each of the state's two-and four-year colleges.

"We are very excited by this announcement. We think it positions us well and gives us the opportunity to invest in the areas we want to invest in,"  University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe said. "We can make recommendations, but at the end of the day the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri system will decide whether or not to hold tuition flat."

It approved by lawmakers and accepted by the governing boards of the state's colleges and universities, the proposal would mark the fourth tuition freeze brokered by Gov. Nixon since he took office in 2009.