COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Nearly 190 faculty members from the University of Missouri System have accepted buyouts and will retire by Sept. 1.

Faculty meeting certain criteria — including being tenured and at last 62 — had until Friday to make their decision final. Faculty who took the buyout will receive a payment equal to 1.5 times their benefits-eligible salary.

The system president’s office said 94 of 226 eligible University of Missouri-Columbia faculty members —42 percent — accepted the buyouts.

At Missouri-Kansas City, 47 percent — or 50 of 106 — eligible faculty accepted. Another 34 percent — 24 of 71 — of eligible University of Missouri-St. Louis faculty accepted, and 35 percent — 19 of 55 — of eligible faculty at Missouri University of Science and Technology faculty accepted.

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