Missouri Revised Statutes Title XI. Education and Libraries § 172.280. Authority to confer degrees--only public research university and exclusive grantor of certain degrees

The curators shall have the authority to confer, by diploma, under their common seal, on any person whom they may judge worthy thereof, such degrees as are known to and usually granted by any college or university. The University of Missouri is the state's only public research university and the exclusive grantor of research doctorates. As such, except as provided in section 175.040, the University of Missouri shall be the only state college or university that may offer doctor of philosophy degrees or first-professional degrees, including dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine.