Columbia, MO (KTRS)  The University of Missouri plans to raise its minimum stipend for some graduate doctoral students on July 1.

Chancellor Hank Foley said Wednesday during his State of the University address that the stipend for those with 20-hour assistantships will go to $15,000 by July 1 and increase to $18,000 next year.

The  increase in stipends was one of several recommendations made by a graduate student task force earlier this month. The task force had suggested the increase be implemented by the 2019-20 school year.

Foley said the university must stay competitive with compensation for its doctoral graduate students.

The stipends were part of a larger discussion about graduate student benefits that has sparked an effort to from a graduate student union.