With the passage of HB1, among multiple other legislative bills, LSU’s higher education leaders are optimistic about the changes the University will see in the upcoming school year.
At the beginning of the legislative session, a $1.6 billion shortfall in the state’s $24 billion budget threatened to cut higher education funding by 82 percent. Talk of this critical cut stirred up students and faculty, who feared the possibility of course cancellations, accreditation issues or an overall school shutdown.
Now, as certain legislative bills receive their respective gubernatorial signature of approval, the LSU community can breathe a temporary sigh of relief. The University will be receiving nearly the same amount of funding it had this past year, University senior vice provost Jane Cassidy said.
“There’s no reason to think that there would be any changes to any of the programs around campus, except for positive changes and things that are moving forward,” Cassidy said. “Students shouldn’t have anything to worry about this year.”
Additionally, the Health Sciences Center, Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the AgCenter will receive varying increases in funding based on their needs, according to Jason Droddy, University executive director of policy and external affairs.
Cassidy also noted that new programs were approved by the Board of Regents and said, “We’re looking forward to expanding opportunities for students in the degree programs.”
The budget, which was signed on Friday by Gov. Bobby Jindal, allocated $2.36 billion in funds towards higher education throughout the state. TOPS received $265 million in funding and will continue to automatically increase money awarded to students as tuition goes up.
Several potential tuition raising measures, some politically-driven, also have been approved by Jindal. Such measures include the SAVE fund and HB152.
The controversial SAVE Credit Program, which was attached to the Jindal-approved SB93, charges higher education students each with a fee of about $1,500. However, students would not have to actually pay anything as this fee is offset by a tax credit of the same amount.
HB152, sponsored by Rep. Chris Broadwater R-Tangipahoa, grants higher education management boards more authority over tuition and fee increases. Originally, increasing tuition in Louisiana tediously required a two-thirds vote by the House and the Senate. The bill still awaits executive approval, according to the official Louisiana state legislature website.
There also is the GRAD Act tuition increase that will be applied for the next academic year, Droddy said. This act, which was signed into law by Jindal in 2010, allows schools to raise tuition by 10 percent each year if academic benchmarks are met.