Don't Restrict Student Financial Aid. Save Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences!

I urge you to oppose and vote "No" on SB1617 (Brattin), HB3221 (Casteel), SB1121 (Trent), and HB2123 (Black). While claiming to improve accountability and prioritize workforce needs, these bills represent a direct attack on public higher education and a dangerous step toward restricting educational opportunity based on a narrow and punitive vision of a degree’s value. SB1617 and HB3221 seek to prohibit state funding, including student financial aid, for any degree program deemed to have a "low-earning outcome" under a federal formula. This is a misguided policy that reduces the purpose of education to a simple return on investment. It ignores the immense civic, social, and personal value of fields like the arts, humanities, and social sciences. These programs teach critical thinking, communication, and cultural understanding—skills essential to a functioning democracy and a vibrant society. Tying funding exclusively to future earnings will penalize students who wish to pursue careers in teaching, social work, or the arts, fields that are essential to our communities but may not lead to high starting salaries. This bill will create a two-tiered system of education, where only the wealthy can afford to study subjects deemed unprofitable by the state, effectively shutting the door on low-income and working-class students who want to pursue their passions and contribute to society in meaningful ways. SB1121 and HB2123 compound these problems by prioritizing state funding based on a new model that is explicitly tied to workforce needs. While supporting our state’s economy is important, making workforce development the primary lens for funding higher education transforms our public universities and colleges into mere job training centers. This approach devalues their broader mission to create engaged, informed citizens. Furthermore, the scholarship expansion in this bill is regressive. By offering significant awards to students with the highest test scores, it directs limited resources to students who are already likely to attend college, rather than targeting aid to those with the greatest financial need. This is a poor use of public funds that could otherwise help make college accessible for the thousands of Missourians who are currently priced out of a higher education. Together, these bills represent a coordinated effort to narrow the mission of our public universities, restrict student choice, and limit educational access based on income. We should be expanding opportunity, not creating new barriers based on a one-dimensional calculation of a graduate's potential earnings. I urge you to reject these harmful bills and instead commit to supporting a higher education system that is accessible, affordable, and rich with the full breadth of human knowledge.