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Missouri receives grant to hand out more college degrees

Hakan Dahlstrom
/
Flickr

Missouri's department of higher education has received a $500,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation to increase the number of Missourians who receive an associate degree.

Assistant commissioner Rusty Monhollon with the state department of higher education says the money will be used to bring “reverse transfers” – which is the process of rewarding an associate degree to students who have met the requirements, but don’t have enough for a bachelor’s degree -- to all of Missouri’s public colleges and universities, instead of just a handful of schools.

I think it’s less about removing barriers, although I think it’s doing some of that," Monhollon says. "It’s really more about identifying and recognizing the work that many people have already done and rewarding them."

Monhollon says a committee will meet in about two weeks to discuss the next steps of the program. He says the money will be used to bring the state’s schools together and to explore how schools can easily share transcripts and academic information.