The University hopes to increase enrollment and student-generated revenue with new freshmen and transfer scholarships beginning fall 2017.
On Oct. 21, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a request for three new scholarships for nonresident and resident students. The scholarships — the LA Tiger Legacy Scholarship, Tiger Alumni Legacy Scholarship and Tiger Nation Scholarship — aim to counteract declining University enrollment rates among in-state and nonresident students.
According to the University’s fall 2016 14th day enrollment report, freshman enrollment dropped by 2.65 percent from fall 2015, and though freshman nonresident enrollment increased minimally, nonresident enrollment overall was down approximately 4 percent. The first year student retention rate also dipped.
The University significantly lags behind other flagship institutions in nonresident enrollment rates. At the University of Alabama, fall 2016 data shows 17,812 nonresident undergraduates are enrolled, comprising 54.7 percent of the school’s total undergraduates.
While Alabama’s nonresident enrollment rate is significant, other SEC flagships have also seen nonresident enrollment increases. The University of Arkansas saw a 4.8 percent nonresident enrollment hike over the last year, bringing the university’s total nonresident enrollment to 38.4 percent of the undergraduate and graduate student population.
By comparison, nonresidents make up only 15 percent of LSU’s undergraduate student population. Nonresident enrollment numbers climbed by 47 percent during a 10-year span in the 2000s, but took a dip when the University discontinued its legacy scholarship program in 2011.
At the same time, nonresident tuition and fees increased 15 percent annually between 2011 and 2014. Fees for all students again increased in June, when the Board of Supervisors instituted a $177 student excellence fee increase per semester for 2016-2017. Since 2011, nonresident enrollment has dropped by 2.6 percent annually.
The Tiger Nation and Tiger Alumni Legacy scholarships are tailored to attract nonresident students by offering partial fee exemptions to qualifying students.
The Tiger Nation scholarship will offer a 20 percent fee exemption — estimated at $3,336 annually based on current tuition and fee rates — to incoming nonresident students with at least an ACT score of 26 — or the SAT equivalent — and a 3.0 GPA.
The Tiger Alumni Legacy scholarship will offer a 10 percent fee exemption, estimated at $1,668, to qualifying students who have a parent who graduated from the University. The University has an active alumni network of 170,000 alumni, a quarter of whom are estimated to have high school or college-aged children, according to the Board of Supervisors report.
At the same time, the University is working to limit resident enrollment declines following cuts to the state’s popular Taylor Opportunity Program for Students. The program will be funded at 41.8 percent this spring.
The Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship will be available to residents whose parents are alumni or work for the University. The scholarships will range from $500 to $1,000 based on ACT scores, with the opportunity for an additional $750 or $1,000 annually if the student has a qualifying GPA.
Altogether, the University estimates the scholarships will cost roughly $2 million for fiscal year 2017-18 and $6.5 million over four years. The University will need to increase student enrollment by 205 students per year to maintain the scholarships.

Gallery • 1 Photos

Michael Palmer

With LSU enrollment down some classrooms are remaining empty, like this one in the basement of Lockett hall on Sept. 6, 2016, on campus.