As budget cuts continue to raise concerns across Louisiana, many higher education leaders are proposing that universities get more authority of their own tuition prices.
Louisiana is currently the only state where two-thirds legislative approval is required for a university to raise its tuition prices. Education leaders are doing everything they can to ensure education remains financially sufficient to schools and realistically affordable for all students.
“There’s been an ongoing effort at the regents level, which is statewide, and the systems levels,” said Joe Wiley, Louisiana Board of Regents member. 
Wiley said that with more flexibility given to higher education leaders to set their own tuition prices, rather than all responsibility given to the state Legislature, school administrations could navigate their institutions more effectively. 
More tuition rights is only one of the many new plans that will be discussed at the upcoming legislative session. 
“A university is much like a business,” Wiley said. 
He said that even with the upcoming budget cuts to higher education, Louisiana’s institutions are still considered relatively cheaper than many other schools in the region. And education leaders are working hard to ensure that tuition remain affordable. 
However, many students are concerned with how their future will be affected. 
“It would be beneficial for the university because they would have the ability to raise their prices, as for students, financial aid could be a problem,” said Ronnice Washington, human resources junior at Southern University and A&M College.
Student aid seems to be the main concern of college students with the cuts to education.
With President Obama releasing his Student Aid Bill of Rights this past week, which is aimed at helping students decrease their student loan debt after graduation.
“I think they should look at that, you should invest in the young people, because we’re the people that are going to advance,” said Jasmine Young, nursing student at Our Lady of the Lake College. 
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