A piece of proposed legislation in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget would increase a fee students already pay, potentially costing students more than $35 a semester.
Jindal’s proposal would “index” the operational fee, an $80 fee students already pay.
When the fee was created in 2004, $80 was 4 percent of tuition. “Indexing” the fee would match the fee to current tuition levels — for this year, that would mean $115 for students taking 12 hours.
That’s a jump of $35 a semester or $70 a year.
The fee increase will almost certainly cost students more than that because the LA GRAD Act, passed in last year’s legislative session, will allow the University to raise tuition by 10 percent if it meets certain performance criteria.
The fee increase could also grow even larger if separate proposals in Jindal’s budget that would increase tuition pass the Legislature, such as a bill that would tweak the cap on full-time tuition.
The bill adjusting the fee has not yet been filed, so it is uncertain exactly which proposals would affect how much the fee would increase.
The increase will not be covered by TOPS, according to the LSU Office of Budget and Planning.
The fee increase is one of several proposals in Jindal’s budget that allow universities to draw in more “self-generated” funds.
The Jindal administration has said the operational fee increase is designed to help universities pay their mandated costs — costs the state forces institutions to pay without providing funding to do so.
University administrators have routinely complained that such “unfunded mandates” cause budgetary damage that “does not show up on paper.”
“[The fee increase] will not cover all mandated costs,” Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater said when the budget was unveiled. “But it will generate $13.1 million in revenue.”
Administrators chalked up $13.4 million in unfunded mandates for LSU alone in the past two years.
While Jindal’s budget counts on the increased revenue to fund higher education, the provision must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
Some legislators have argued against funding higher education through tuition and fee increases.
“You’re not doing more with less,” said Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, firing back at Jindal’s claims that his budget makes the state more efficient. “You’re doing it with what are increased fees and taxes on students, in my opinion.”
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]