Missouri Reducing A+ Scholarship Aid

Missouri is cutting back slightly on the amount of aid students will receive under the state's A+ scholarship program.

The program typically provides free community college tuition to students who graduate from high school with at least a 2.5 GPA and meet various other criteria.

But for the spring 2015 semester, the state says it will pay for all but one of a student's credit hours. That means a student taking 15 credit hours would get a scholarship for 14 hours.

The Department of Higher Education says the change is being made because of a funding shortfall, rising tuition rates and a growing number of eligible students.

Department spokesman Liz Coleman says it will be up to each college to decide how to make up for the decreased scholarship funding.