St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press

The president of the University of Missouri system is determined to keep the focus of the higher education debate on adequate funding and not his salary. The Board of Curators approved a 6 percent pay raise and a two-year contract extension. The raise would have brought his annual salary to $371,000. Instead, President Elson Floyd promises to donate the $21,000 raise equally to fund-raising campaigns at the four campuses, according to The Kansas City Star. He also asked that a controversial package of deferred compensation be dropped.

The lack of a pay raise is symptomatic of the problem facing higher education in Missouri. Universities and colleges annually struggle to find a balance between cutting programs and raising tuition because of inadequate state funding. Lawmakers need to debate what it will take to make the state's universities and colleges competitive more than whether Elson Floyd finally deserves a pay raise.