A recent report by a Missouri task force says the state's public universities and community colleges should not stray from the types of degrees their institutions can grant unless they have a good reason to do so.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Missouri lawmakers asked the task force, made up of 16 state higher education leaders, to address the issue after a dispute between the University of Missouri System and Missouri State University.
Missouri State officials were hoping to change a statute that controls which doctoral programs the Springfield university can grant and prohibits it from offering professional degrees, including medical and law.
The report says research and professional degrees are exclusively the role of the four University of Missouri schools and that 12 community colleges should stick to granting associate degrees and certificates.
