LSU System President John Lombardi hinted at amending the TOPS scholarship as a way to avoid “privatizing” higher education in the face of large-scale budget cuts at Tuesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing. By avoiding privatization caused by higher fees and tuition, higher education will be available to all qualified students, not just those who can afford it, Lombardi said. “We have to create need-based financial aid programs that are capable of making sure that even as we are forced to raise various kinds of fees and tuition, we have a mechanism to make sure nobody’s excluded from higher education by virtue of their inability to pay,” Lombardi told House Speaker Pro Tempore Karen Peterson, D-New Orleans. “In Louisiana, because our tuition and fees have been so low, we’ve focused almost entirely on merit-type financial aid.”Peterson then asked, “Is this a request to amend TOPS?””I don’t think I want to get in that much trouble today,” Lombardi said. “I want you to propose that it’s a good idea — better you than me. But however we do it, if we’re going to privatize public higher education, we must have very sophisticated and very powerful need-based financial aid programs that ensure access.” Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed state spending budget has higher education taking a $219 million cut in state funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1.The four public college system presidents presented their slashed 2009-10 budgets to members of the House Appropriations Committee, beginning a conversation that will carry into the Legislature’s session starting Monday. Layoffs, furloughs, tuition increases, larger class sizes and a decrease in state economic development are just a few of the effects the budget reduction would have on each of the four college systems and Louisiana itself, Commissioner of Higher Education Sally Clausen said.Lombardi said, with tuition and fees on the rise across the U.S., many universities have implemented more need-based financial aid programs. “That’s the only way you’re going to ensure access for all of our citizens,” Lombardi said. “Otherwise you end up with an elitist form of public higher education, which is not our goal.”Several Committee members told Clausen they were concerned about the number of students on TOPS scholarships that drop out of college rather than graduating, essentially wasting government money. Clausen said the Board of Regents — Louisiana’s higher education governing body — is analyzing scholarships at every level. Clausen didn’t have statistics on the number of college dropouts on TOPS.Proposed Senate Bill 85, submitted by Sen. Butch Gautreaux, would put a cap on TOPS scholarships at a level that would cover tuition at every other state public college except LSU and the University of New Orleans. The TOPS base award for LSU is worth $3,494 per academic year, but under the bill, the base award would be worth only $3,200. Tuition is expected to increase by 5 percent at LSU, along with higher student fees. If the bill is approved by the Legislature, the change would mean an increase of more than $250 that wouldn’t be covered under TOPS. The bill could help Louisiana cushion Jindal’s proposed cuts.   Jindal’s proposed budget has forced colleges to plan for the worst, exploring options like cutting workers, programs and, some say, national prominence. “Everything is on the table today,” Clausen said. “We have nothing that can possibly be considered sacred under these circumstances.”LSU A&M in Baton Rogue is expected to take a cut of about $40 million — or about 18 percent — in state funding under the Board of Regents’ allocation of Jindal’s cuts. The LSU System as a whole would be cut by about $102 million.”We recognize this reduction process is extremely serious,” Lombardi said. “This problem, which affects the entire state, also affects us directly and is not something which needs only a temporary solution.”Legislators said they are considering tapping into the state’s “rainy day” fund and economic development funds to lessen some of the cuts.Staff writer Adam Duvernay contributed to this report.——Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]