LSU System President John Lombardi expressed his views Wednesday favoring tuition increases and larger enrollments to an education panel of the state legislature’s House Appropriations Committee. “We’re low, very low and exceedingly low in our tuition,” Lombardi said, comparing University tuition cost to national peers. “Our job is to provide outstanding education to the most students possible, and so we need to build back LSU A&M to a level that it had some 10, 15 years ago, and we need to get it up closer to 30,000 students.” Lombardi recommended raising tuition to a “reasonable national level” and re-appropriating a large portion of the increased revenue to students in financial need for their attendance. Lombardi praised the University’s merit-aid policies, primarily TOPS, but criticized the need-based aid. Lombardi said he wants to raise tuition to guarantee that in time, a package will be created to pay for as much as 93 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need.
Lombardi said many students are unable to attend the University because of the cost of living, eating and other non-tuition costs. His increased tuition recommendation plans to fund such aid for lower-income students. “We do not have enough students,” Lombardi told the committee. Lombardi also emphasized the importance of research. He said research initiatives will propel the University to a higher standard and better prepare students for the workforce. Lombardi said he hopes to increase graduate-student enrollment to further the University’s research goals. “We want to be a place where research of all kinds in conducted on a competitive level,” Lombardi said. “And that contributes to the economic development of this state and provides opportunity for students to learn how to do high-level skills, high-level projects. We hope that out of that, we spin off a significant amount of intellectual property, which then redounds to business and activities in the state.” Charles Zewe, System vice president for Communications and External Affairs, explained Lombardi’s request for additional funding in next fiscal year’s state budget is primarily due to the need for faculty and staff pay-raises and deferred maintenance costs. “There is a continuing need to competitively fund LSU System campuses to compare to our peers around the country,” Zewe said. One house bill, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, would give authority to the Board of Supervisors to increase fees as much as $250 per semester, generating an estimated $13 million annually for the University. The fee for full time students would be proportionally applied to part-time and summer students. Smith’s increased fees will not be covered by TOPS. Rep. Don. Trahan, R-Lafayette, has proposed a bill allowing public-university tuition to increase as much as 5 percent per year over two years. Trahan’s increases will use state funds to pay for students awarded TOPS. Lawmakers did not commit to backing either the free increase or the tuition hike.
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