After the Senate Committee on Education’s deliberations last week, several major higher education bills were approved and will be considered by the entire Senate later in the session.
Senate Bill 155 by Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, is one of several bills to give higher education boards the authority to set tuition and fees for the institutions under them. This bill cannot proceed without the passage of Senate Bill 48, Donahue said during the April 22 meeting.
Senate Bill 48, also by Donahue, would establish a base amount for the TOPS program. The measure would ensure that each student receives the same amount each year, protecting them from losing scholarship money.
TOPS cost the state around $104 million in 2001, and the state will pay out about $250 million this year. This isn’t his first go around with this idea, however. Donahue said he introduced a bill last year to cap TOPS, but the bill was defeated on the Senate floor by three votes.
“There is an obvious need for the cost control in TOPS based on the growth curves we’ve seen,” Donahue said in his presentation to the committee. “This bill sets a baseline, not a cap. It ensures the viability of TOPS in the future.”
Board of Regents Chairman Roy O. Martin III sat with Donahue as he presented his bill to the committee.
Donahue said Louisiana is one of three states where the legislature controls public higher education tuition. Of the three, Louisiana is the only one requiring a two-thirds majority. He said approximately half the states have governing boards with the power to change tuition.
“I’m sure each of us know the governing boards and the universities in our area are made up of top-quality people,” Donahue said. “They understand the university they represent. They understand the kids they’re trying to educate. I think that I trust them to legislate in matters of tuition.”
Student Government President Andrew Mahtook supported the bill in front of the committee. Mahtook gave three reasons the management boards should handle tuition.
Mahtook said since the boards are closer to students, have a student representative, and have less topics on their plates, they should be trusted with tuition authority.
“This is a group that lives and breathes with education,” Mahtook said. “The policy they are concerned about is education. They know the ebbs and flows of LSU.”
Senator J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, presented Senate Resolution 11 and Senate Bill 255 as part of sexual assault package. SR 11 would establish a task force to study sexual assault on college campuses. SB 255 requires postsecondary institutions to administer a sexual climate survey to its students, faculty and employees.
The package does not deal with any disciplinary actions for campus sexual assault because it’s such a complicated issue.
“What I seek to do this year is to take that working group, add membership from the various systems, and work on the disciplinary piece over the next year,” Morrell said. “There are many universities across the country dealing with this, and it’ll help to have some time in deliberation on that issue.”