Why won’t the Reveille, the LSU administration, professors or Student Government ask the most obvious and important question when it comes to higher education funds in Louisiana? Why are so many dollars going to failing universities around the state with what generally amount to duplicate programs available at LSU and La. Tech, the two most successful at graduations? Why are $8.4 million going to run LSU-Alexandria where the graduation rate for four-year programs in six years is 12 percent? UNO gets $56 million and graduates 24 percent in six years. The two-year associates degree school, LSU-Eunice, gets $5.2 million and graduates 6 percent of students in three years! To list a few more of our higher education dollar incinerators, here are the names followed by the six-year grad rate for four-year programs: SUNO 13 percent, Nicholls 32 percent, McNeese 35 percent, UL Monroe 32 percent, Southeastern 30 percent, Southern 31 percent. These six schools have an annual budget of $175.8 million. Are these really places of learning and success worthy of this much money?
Six-year graduation rates and funding at these five most successful schools: La. Tech graduates 55 percent using $41.3 million, Grambling 38 percent with $27.1 million, ULL 43 percent with $52.3 million, Northwestern State 37 percent with $31.8 million and LSU 65 percent with $216 million. I would support the notion that these five schools deserve more funding at the expense or even closing of a few of the, shall we say, less successful “universities.” To be fair, admission standards play a large part in graduation rates, but if a school determines to have low or no admission standards, should students who are prepared to succeed suffer? Every time a Louisiana college student drops out, taxpayers have just wasted $5,000+ on each year they attended school. Louisiana wastes upwards of $100 million every year just on freshman who don’t make it to year two.
Louisiana must set up a system of six to eight four-year universities with admission standards that offer unique areas of study which are fully funded. Students who are not prepared for admission should be directed to the technical and community college system, where — if they are driven — they can become prepared for success in a four-year university or a trade.
LSU is the flagship university of this state and should be funded first. Other successful universities should also come to the trough of funding along with LSU. Schools that exist so parents can say their child is going to college next year, even though there is no chance of succeeding while providing jobs for political cronies, must go by the wayside.
 
John Roberts
Taxpayers Union of Louisiana
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