Plan would give more than $24 million for SEMO projects, including autism center

Southeast Missouri State University would receive more than $24 million for construction projects, including a center to diagnose and treat autism, officials said Thursday.

The plan, backed by Gov. Matt Blunt and House and Senate leaders, would use money from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to fund $350 million for campus construction projects across the state.

For Southeast, that includes $17.2 million to complete the state's share of funding for the River Campus, $4.5 million for a business incubator to house companies focused on environmental and conservation business opportunities, $2.64 million for construction of an autism center and $173,000 to remodel space at the university's Sikeston campus for a clinic to train students to be dental hygienists.

Read more in Friday's Southeast Missourian.