Education in Missouri

=Missouri State Board of Education=

The Missouri State Board of Education has general authority over all public education in the state of Missouri. It is made up of eight citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Missouri Senate.

Primary and secondary schools

"See also List of school districts in Missouri and List of high schools in Missouri"

Education is compulsory from ages seven to sixteen in Missouri, commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school and high school. The public schools system includes kindergarten to 12^th grade. District territories are often complex in structure. In some cases, elementary, middle and junior high schools of a single district feed into high schools in another district. High school athletics and competitions are governed by the Missouri State High School Activities Association or MSHAA.

Testing in Missouri

In Missouri, there are two required tests:
* The Missouri Assesment Program, or MAP test is required for all Public School students in the state of Missouri.
* The"Terranova" Test, an adpated form of the MAP test for children in grades 1&2 in Missouri.

Colleges and universities

"See also: List of colleges and universities in Missouri"There are a large number of colleges and universities in Missouri. The University of Missouri System is Missouri's statewide public university system, the flagship institution and largest university in the state is the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The others in the system are University of Missouri–St. Louis, University of Missouri–Kansas City and Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Notable private institutions of higher learning in Missouri include Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1905 the state established a series of normal schools to teach "teaching norms" at colleges in each region of the state. The initial network consisted of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) in Springfield, Truman State University (formerly Northeast Missouri State University) in Kirksville, Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, and University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) in Warrensburg. There are numerous junior colleges, trade schools, church universities and private universities.

Financial aid

The state also funds a $2000, renewable merit-based scholarship, Bright Flight, given to the top 3% of Missouri High School graduates who attend a university in-state.

See also Missouri A+ schools program.