2008 Woodie Awards
MOHELA board clears sale of assets
By: James Chilton
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: News
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The board members of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority voted Sept. 27 in favor of selling $350 million of its assets to pay for a series of construction projects at state universities.
The 4-2 vote paves the way for The Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, Gov. Matt Blunt's proposal to use MOHELA's money to fund capital improvement projects, including the construction and renovation of buildings at public universities. With MOHELA's authorization of the sale secure, the initiative will go back to the state legislature for examination prior to a final vote.
Karen Luebbert, vice president and executive assistant to Webster's president, is the chairwoman of the MOHELA board and one of the two dissenting votes. In her three years as chairwoman, she has attempted to remain impartial to the differences between public and private university concerns. After the vote, however, she broke her silence.
"This is an attempt to find a quick solution to a problem the public institutions have had for a number of years," she said. "I think this has the potential of hurting all Missouri students, and I don't want to take that risk."
Luebbert said Missouri is already one of the least affordable states in which to get an education. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Missouri an F in affordability in its 2006 National Report Card. Under its weaknesses heading, the report said, "the state makes a very low investment in need-based financial aid compared with leading states, and Missouri offers no low-tuition college opportunities."
University President Richard Meyers praised Luebbert's conviction.
"I applaud Karen Luebbert on her taking a hard stand for students," he said. "I don't see any positives even if we were to receive construction money."
He added that, had he been in Luebbert's position, he "absolutely would've tried to vote it down."
Luebbert said Missouri provides only one-quarter of the required funding for the state's need-based financial aid programs and MOHELA has the potential to help close the gap and provide new scholarships to students. With that knowledge at hand, she said taking money from an organization providing low-cost loans is not the right thing for the state to do. She also questions whether such a move is even legal.
The 4-2 vote paves the way for The Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, Gov. Matt Blunt's proposal to use MOHELA's money to fund capital improvement projects, including the construction and renovation of buildings at public universities. With MOHELA's authorization of the sale secure, the initiative will go back to the state legislature for examination prior to a final vote.
Karen Luebbert, vice president and executive assistant to Webster's president, is the chairwoman of the MOHELA board and one of the two dissenting votes. In her three years as chairwoman, she has attempted to remain impartial to the differences between public and private university concerns. After the vote, however, she broke her silence.
"This is an attempt to find a quick solution to a problem the public institutions have had for a number of years," she said. "I think this has the potential of hurting all Missouri students, and I don't want to take that risk."
Luebbert said Missouri is already one of the least affordable states in which to get an education. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Missouri an F in affordability in its 2006 National Report Card. Under its weaknesses heading, the report said, "the state makes a very low investment in need-based financial aid compared with leading states, and Missouri offers no low-tuition college opportunities."
University President Richard Meyers praised Luebbert's conviction.
"I applaud Karen Luebbert on her taking a hard stand for students," he said. "I don't see any positives even if we were to receive construction money."
He added that, had he been in Luebbert's position, he "absolutely would've tried to vote it down."
Luebbert said Missouri provides only one-quarter of the required funding for the state's need-based financial aid programs and MOHELA has the potential to help close the gap and provide new scholarships to students. With that knowledge at hand, she said taking money from an organization providing low-cost loans is not the right thing for the state to do. She also questions whether such a move is even legal.
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