By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – A number of colleges and universities in Missouri are hoping for a name change this year.
A state Senate committee okayed legislation on Tuesday to change Harris-Stowe and Missouri Western from state colleges to state universities.
Both of those name changes have been pitched before, but they became entangled in the more contentious debate over Southwest Missouri State. SMS wants to drop Southwest from its name and just become Missouri State University.
But this year, the Missouri Western and Harris-Stowe measures are in their own pieces of legislation.
The Senate Education Committee also took a procedural step that raises the likelihood of passage, designating them as unopposed consent bills.
The panel gave the same treatment to a bill dropping "Joplin" from the name of Missouri Southern State University.