Mississippi Valley State University has a chance at extra funding for the 2006 fiscal year.
At a State College Board meeting Thursday, a revised funding formula for state schools was approved for the 2007 fiscal year.
Board members are considering adopting this formula early for the 2006 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
"This has sparked a great deal of interest. We are hoping for the best," said Dr. Roy Hudson, vice president of university relations for MVSU.
Under the proposal, MVSU and other state universities at the bottom of the funding scale would be compared to other universities with similar enrollment and size.
According to Hudson, more money for the school is long overdue.
"We have been pushing this for the past couple of years. We've talked with legislators and the school board members. It's not a done deal, but at least we have people to listen now," said Hudson.
He is crossing his fingers for the funding to pull through for this coming year.
"We hope it's coming because it's definitely needed. Based on our growth, we need it this year," said Hudson.
More details on the plan will be forthcoming in May and possibly voted on by June.
The existing funding formula has been in effect since 1997. MVSU ranks sixth among the eight universities in the amount of money that it receives for each full-time student.
Statistically, however, MVSU has the lowest allocation per student based on its enrollment growth.
While the school is growing, money appropriated for MVSU has not expanded with the university, says Hudson.
The school has held its own during this difficult time says Hudson, and he points to consistent student credit hour production as evidence.
This is based on the number of class hours for which each student enrolls and is multiplied by the number of students.
During the MVSU 2003-2004 academic year, the credit hours for the fall were 43,654 and 43,912 for the spring.
The school accommodated students by enlarging the class sizes, giving teachers more classes and bringing in the administration teach classes.
The amount of staff the school can hire has also been affected by funding. MVSU has seen fewer librarians, student advisors and people for the honors programs, said Hudson.
Hudson says the lack of funding ultimately affects the students. "It's no secret there's a high correlation between funding and the quality of the education."
