The Council of Student Body Presidents issued a letter to the Louisiana Legislature and Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday expressing concern and urging lawmakers to spare further budget cuts to higher education.
Authored by the Student Government Association Presidents of Louisiana’s colleges and universities, the letter was issued on behalf of more than 215,000 college students across the state.
The letter comes three days after the start of the nine-day legislative special session where legislators will decide how to close a $304 million mid-year budget shortfall.
The letter was signed by student body presidents of 32 education institutions within the state, including LSU Student Government president Zack Faircloth.
The letter states how over the past nine years, state funding of higher education has decreased more than any other U.S. state, while tuition and fees have also increased by 111 percent during the same period. The presidents also asked legislators to honor TOPS scholarships promised to students.
“We hope our state’s leaders will focus on identifying a long-term source of sustainable funding that will end the state’s practice of repeated cuts to higher education,” the letter said.
