In a news release distributed today, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced an agreement that will hold the line on Missouri tuition increases.From the statement:”Under the agreement reached by Gov. Nixon and leaders of Missouri’s public four-year colleges and universities, in fiscal year 2010, the institutions will receive the same state appropriation they received in fiscal year 2009. In return, the institutions have pledged not to raise tuition or academic fees during the 2009-2010 school year.”That’s a different picture from Kansas, where institutions have already had to absorb a 3 percent cut for fiscal year 2009, with an additional 4 percent in 2010 stacked on top of it.And while regents told universities earlier this month to be prudent with tuition, most seemed favorable to modest increases — although none seemed to favor the 8-10 percent increases mentioned in Missouri’s release.”While other states must resort to budget cuts and tuition hikes to keep their colleges and universities afloat, we have avoided those drastic measures here in Missouri,” Nixon said in the statement. “Training Missourians for the jobs of the future is a top priority of my administration, and our budget will reflect that priority.”