Gov. Matt Blunt championed his commitment to education Friday while discussing his future budget priorities with the Southeast Missori State University Board of Regents.

Blunt said he intends to increase state funding for education by 4.4 percent, creating an additional $40 million, $2 million of which Southeast would see.

He also extolled the Access Missouri program, which provides need-based scholarships for students. Last year, he said, 380 Southeast students received a need-based scholarship from the state, which increased to 1,992 this year.

Preparing to Care, funding intended to increase the number of trained health-care professionals, could see an allocation of $13.4 million, Blunt said.

-- Lindy Bavolek