The annual report on the state of Missouri higher education provides information on system finance, operations, and planning at the state level. First, highlights are identified in the areas of: enhancements, a new state technical college, Missouri Student Loan Program innovations, performance funding, and a new blueprint for higher education. An introductory section gives an overview of the state's higher education system, including a list of institutions, admissions, undergraduate degrees, performance on national tests in general education and major fields, and job-relatedness of education. A section on higher education finance outlines the state appropriation process and the appropriations totals and requests for FY 1997, and FY 1997 capital improvement requests for four-year institutions. A section on statewide planning and coordination presents data on state-level planning policy, establishment of a new college, academic program actions, out-of-district course offerings, institutional initiatives, campus-based program reviews, implementation of state core curriculum requirements, a survey of current students, science and mathematics education legislation, a report on international graduate teaching assistants, a state-level planning initiative, enrollment trends and degrees conferred. Missouri student financial assistance programs and a teacher scholarship program are summarized in the next section. Two brief concluding sections describe the proprietary school certification program and recent state higher education legislation. (MSE)