University students could see a tuition hike of $1,555 per year and other increased costs under a budget reduction plan proposed Wednesday by the heads of the state’s higher education systems.
The plan, presented by LSU System President John Lombardi to the Board of Regents, is the official response to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration’s request for post-secondary institutions to plan for a 32-percent reduction in services.
The state faces a $1.6 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year. Constitutional and statutory dedications protect much of the state’s budget, so higher education and health care suffer disproportionately severe cuts.
If all of the plan’s proposals are implemented, the state’s higher education cut for all systems would shrink from $437 million to $136 million.
The plan is a draft, clearly labeled “for discussion purposes only.” The Jindal administration and the state Legislature have the authority to actually implement the proposals in the plan.
The plan hinges on four major structural changes, including the tuition increases.
Administrators argue such an increase is fair because the state’s college tuition is significantly lower than the regional average.
The plan cites Southern Regional Education Board statistics that show Louisiana colleges and universities charge significantly less for tuition than similar institutions throughout the South.
The plan would raise tuition to “market price,” which would raise an estimated $31 million to fill the budget gap. The plan would raise tuition to that market price gradually over a period of six years.
The plan would force every student to pay per credit hour. For example, a student taking 18 hours would pay 33 percent more than a student taking 12.
“There are 301,724 free, unpaid, student credit hours taken by students above the 12 hour paid level, or the equivalent of over 25,000 full-time equivalent students not paying any tuition,” the plan states.
TOPS would only pay for the standard 12 hours. Any additional hours would come out of the students’ pockets.
The process for raising that tuition would be established by the Board of Regents and would include mandatory need-based financial aid to meet 90 percent of federal requirements.
The process would require the Legislature’s approval to give the Board authority to implement the increases.
The Legislature voted in its last session to pass the LA GRAD Act, which gave universities authority to independently raise tuition by a total of 10 percent annually. This proposal would require more leeway than that.
The second proposal would remove the 12-hour full-time tuition cap.
Currently, students who take more than 12 hours are considered “full-time” and pay a flat rate. Students who take less than 12 hours pay per credit hour.
The plan estimates this proposal would lead to an estimated $75.4 million additional revenue, accounting for students taking fewer hours because of the increased cost.
The third proposal would establish a 10 percent “fiscal stabilization” surcharge for the next fiscal year. That charge would be covered by need-based financial aid but not by TOPS.
The plan estimates the proposal would earn $55.5 million, counting decreases from need-based aid.
The final proposal would reduce “pass through” state general funds that are funneled through university systems to four programs by 21 percent.
Those programs are the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, the Truancy program, the D-Day Museum and the Ogden Museum.
The first two are funded through the LSU System. The last two are funded through UNO specifically.
“If the state can adjust the total reduction assigned to higher education from 32 percent to 22.0 percent, the measures outlined above would leave the remaining 8 percent for postsecondary institutions to absorb through efficiency, and other reductions that would not require system-wide financial exigency,” the plan says.
Exigency is the “academic bankruptcy” necessary for universities to fire tenured faculty. Administrators have warned such a dire scenario is possible with the impending budget cuts.
 
Read: Jindal’s chief of staff visits campus, discusses $437 million budget cut
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]