While students and administrators contemplate a potential doomsday scenario of cuts to higher education at an estimated high of $65 million for the University, according to an administrative report, students, especially those from low-income families, could get billed in rising cost gaps from fee increases.
LSU President F. King Alexander warned of fee increases nearing $1,400 per student this year alone if legislature does not find solutions. Gov. John Bel Edwards updated the scenario during a televised speech on Feb. 11 stating that the budget crisis could result in university closures.
The situation is familiar for administrators and students, as the fight for funding for higher education, one of the few areas in state government not constitutionally dedicated to receive money each year, is a recurring, and sometimes semi-annual, affair.
The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance educates students and parents on “cost gaps,” which are the costs of college after state and federal financial aid are awarded.
According to a LOSFA report for the 2015-2016 school year, cost gaps for students can range from $9,168 to nearly $16,000.
A student receiving $5,000 from their family, the minimum Pell Grant, a $7,122 Pelican Promise and a $1,500 Go Grant — the maximum allowed at the University — would have to find $15,739 to cover the remaining cost. The total cost of attendance for in-state University students, according to LOSFA, is $29,176, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses.
LOSFA executive director Sujuan Boutté said all costs not covered by gift aid are passed along to the student, including the possible increase in fees this year and marginal tuition increases if TOPS is capped or eliminated.
At the rate tuition is increasing, Boutté said, legislators and higher education leaders are concerned about cost gaps pricing students out of college.
“When you’re looking at [needy] student[s],” she said, “with that cost gap, getting Go Grant, you’re still seeing that student has a significant cost left after that. They really don’t have anywhere to pull that from, besides loans or working or trying to mitigate the cost gap.”
Qualifying students receiving TOPS whose families cannot contribute any money toward their education will receive the maximum Pell Grant of $5,775, a Pelican Promise of $7,122 and more than $7,000 in TOPS money. But because the amount of aid is more than 60 percent of the cost of attendance, students would not be eligible for Go Grant, and would be left with $9,168 to pay.
Boutté said LOSFA’s goal is for students to qualify for merit-based aid, coupled with need-based aid, to reduce cost gaps. TOPS was never need-based and is the largest financial award in the state, she said.
“The thing that I like to have folks always keep in mind is that there is no prohibition on a needy student being meritorious,” she said.