A Missouri Senate committee has considered a bill that would allow public colleges and universities to launch a new post-graduate degree program without approval from another school.
The Jefferson City News Tribune reports that the Senate Education Committee considered the bill Wednesday. Under the proposed law, universities would still have to get approval from the state Coordinating Board for Higher Education to launch a new master's or doctorate degree program.
The bill would also end a 2005 agreement that stopped a more than 17-hour filibuster against a bill changing the names of various higher education institutions, including Southwest Missouri State University to Missouri State University.
President Cliff Smart testified that the agreement placed restrictions on Missouri State as the University of Missouri is the only university generally authorized to deliver doctoral programs.
