After thousands raged against the state government’s continued “disinvestment” in higher education and the proposed cuts for the current year Wednesday afternoon, some higher education officials testified before the Senate Finance Committee, warning of the drastic impacts even the “best case scenario” would have on schools. 
LSU President F. King Alexander and other system heads honed in on what more than $68 million in cuts to colleges and universities would look like on campuses throughout the state. While the $68 million, which includes $26.4 million in unfunded TOPS costs, has been deemed the “best case scenario,” those leaders rejected the notion that it would be “best” for their schools and students. 
“[A $68 million cut] is not the best case scenario. The best case scenario is zero cuts,” said Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs Jason Droddy in an interview Thursday. “LSU is looking at a $17 million cut in the last quarter of the year. Pretty stout. I’d say that’s not a good scenario for us.”
The LSU System would bear roughly $33 million of the reduction, with the main campus taking a $17 million                               hit. 
To detail the scope of the cuts, Alexander said it would equal a $300 per student increase in fees, and the firing or furloughing of “a lot” of non-tenured faculty and staff.
But because the cuts come mid-semester, Alexander said there is no way to collect a fee from students, and to protect classrooms, faculty and courses could not be                                                eliminated. 
That leaves the University with few options to mitigate the cuts — cutting staff positions and student services and “restructuring” summer school are all on the table — and Droddy, who also serves as the University’s legislative liaison, said nothing is “off the table”                   yet.
“The direct academic, instructional experience would probably not be touched up front,” Droddy said. “But the student support services, the institutional support services, would all be looking at some dramatic                                                                 effects.”
Droddy said the administration has not yet laid out which services would be eliminated this semester if cuts are handed down. 
Alexander highlighted the effect fewer summer school offerings would have on student-athletes, who use intersessions and summer semesters to remain eligible, and Droddy said graduation plans for 31,000 students could
be disrupted. 
“We’re losing student-athletes because coaches are telling them we might not have summer school,” Alexander said. 
Senators on the committee told the system heads to present their plan to absorb $68 million in cuts, as the “worst case scenario” of a $204 million statewide reduction to colleges and universities is far-fetched. Each system head pointed mostly to furloughs, as staff lines are among the few options schools have to restructure their budget mid-semester. And while each said their schools would not have to close, they said cuts would have severe                                  impacts. 
Another option LSU is considering is raising the entrance requirements. Droddy said that wouldn’t be an option until at least 2017, as admission letters have already been sent for the current                                                                 year. 
Monroe Democratic state Rep. Katrina Jackson’s one-cent sales tax increase bill, expected to raise around $220 million for the current year, passed in the House on Thursday afternoon and will head to the Senate. Droddy confirmed the importance of the measure, which is the cornerstone of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ budget reduction plan. Advocates for schools and hospitals have called for lawmakers to compromise and pass both tax increases and spending cuts to alleviate cuts to higher education and
healthcare. 
University of Louisiana System President Dan Reneau echoed the sentiment that the Division of Administration’s “best case scenario” is not ideal for Louisiana colleges and universities. 
“Some institutions, possibly, I cannot say for certain, would have to declare financial exigency,” he said. “It is not a ‘best case scenario’ for                                    my system.”