Students could pay more than $500 more in tuition and fees per year beginning next fall if the Louisiana Legislature passes the LA GRAD Act as proposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal last week.If passed, the LA GRAD act will allow the University to begin raising tuition and fees by 10 percent per year if they meet goals specified by the plan.The plan will be introduced as a bill in the upcoming legislative session beginning March 29.Raising tuition levels requires two-thirds approval by the legislature. Jason Droddy, assistant vice chancellor of legislative and external affairs, said the plan could hypothetically go into effect as early as August.Based on current enrollment figures, a 10 percent increase in tuition and fees would equal students paying approximately $520 more per academic year, said Robert Kuhn, associate vice chancellor of budget and planning.If the University continually meets goals, tuition and fees could be raised until they reach the level of the average flagship university, Droddy said.The University’s tuition and fees are $2,412 below the national flagship average, according to figures compiled by the Chancellor’s Office. The University would be allowed to raise tuition 10 percent multiple times before reaching the national flagship average, an average that will likely grow because of national tuition trends, Kuhn said.Once reaching the national flagship average, the University would be allowed to regulate tuition and fees according to the higher education price index rate.”The problem is even I agree with low tuition prices,” Droddy said. “The problem with that is you can only guarantee low tuition if you provide state funds. That position is no longer tenable because obviously the state can no longer provide it.”The plan also gives the University the option to establish fees and tuition according to hours instead of capping the rate at 12 hours. This could see students paying more per credit hour even after taking the 12 hour minimum to be considered full-time. “At LSU, we like not charging more because we want the students to take more credit hours,” Droddy said. “So we don’t want to assess them a lot of money on top. We think that is an incentive effect. Others will argue that if a student is not paying for it, they will sign up and drop [the class] and there is no cost for that.”The University would only be granted autonomy if it meets stipulations that will have the effect of moving more students into two-year colleges and increasing retention rates for the University.Droddy said the state has an abnormally high proportion of students in four-year colleges. Moving some of that proportion to two-year institutions and then having them transfer would result in money saved for the state, he said.These stipulations include increasing retention rates and the number of completers each year.”Right now we focus on getting the seniors our the door,” Droddy said. “We don’t want to delay them anymore. Now you have, on the front end, faculty and administration getting the freshmen out the door, and there is a big incentive in moving them along.”Droddy speculated there would be a greater focus on resources like the Center for Academic Success helping students graduate sooner.Droddy also anticipated a greater focus on scheduling and getting students the classes they need from semester to semester. After a period of six years, the University would have to renew its performance agreements with stipulations requiring policies projecting a 75 percent graduation rate.–Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected] in tuition lead to greater state output for the TOPS program, but the governor has voiced his support for fully funding the TOPS program, and Droddy said he doesn’t think the TOPS program will hinder the plan from passing through the legislature.”If you don’t fund the scholarship, there are political repercussions,” Droddy said. “TOPS is very successful from a policy standpoint. Eighty-five percent of TOPS students are retained for a second year and only 60 to 65 percent of non-TOPS students are retained for a second year. So the trajectory for success for TOPS students is by far better.”