JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The price of tuition for Missouri 2 and 4 year institutions will stay the same for the 2016-17 school year.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced Monday that an agreement to freeze tuition for Missouri undergraduates has been reached. The Governor also announced that his Fiscal Year 2017 budget will include an additional $55.7 million, a 6 percent increase, in performance funding for higher education, which will bring total state funding for higher education to a record $985 million next year.

“By bringing people together to invest in students and hold down college costs, we have made Missouri a national leader in college affordability and innovation,” Gov. Nixon said. “Today I am proud to announce that under my budget, Missouri undergraduates won’t pay a penny more in tuition next year. This tuition freeze is good for students, families and our economy as a whole. Because the less debt students take on when they’re in school, the more they can spend when they graduate–buying a car, starting a business, and pursuing their dreams.”

This is the fourth tuition freeze Gov. Nixon has announced since taking office in 2009.