3:30 p.m. (AP) Gov. Jay Nixon wants Missouri’s universities to freeze undergraduate tuition next year while also proposing more state funding.

The governor says the budget he recommends next year will include an additional $36.7 million for public universities. The 5 percent funding increase would be distributed using a performance-based funding system.

The governor called for a tuition freeze at four-year schools for Missouri undergraduates in the 2014-2015 academic year.

Previously, Missouri higher education institutions and Nixon reached an agreement to freeze tuition for the 2009-2010. The next year, public colleges and universities struck a deal to hold undergraduate tuition flat to avert deeper state funding cuts.

(AP) – Gov. Jay Nixon plans to discuss college affordability and funding for higher education.

The governor told higher education officials in October he would propose a significant funding boost for colleges and universities but did not specify the amount he would recommend for next year’s budget.

Nixon was traveling Wednesday to Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau and to Missouri State University in Springfield.

In November, Nixon proposed an additional $5,000 annually through the merit-based Bright Flight scholarship for students who agree to work-full time in Missouri immediately after graduation.