BATON ROUGE (AP) — Threatened with the loss of up to half of their state financing, Louisiana's higher education leaders are devising their own package of ideas to generate new cash for their campuses.
College system heads have asked for ideas from campus leaders, and they've been floating suggestions to lawmakers and Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration in behind-the-scenes discussions.
Among the concepts, campuses are looking for less micromanagement from state officials, so they can run their own purchasing and insurance operations with an eye toward finding savings away from the bureaucracy of state government. They're talking about fee hikes on students and tuition changes that could raise costs on students and their families.
"We're looking for ways we can help. We're looking for ways they can help us, with new freedoms," said LSU System President F. King Alexander.
The Board of Regents will talk about some of the proposals Monday, as the higher education community tries to home in on ideas that can gain traction and win approval from the governor and lawmakers in the legislative session that begins April 13.
The conversations come amid talk of cuts that could top $400 million across higher education next year — a reduction of as much as 50 percent of the money colleges get from the state.
On Friday, Jindal unveils his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols, the governor's top budget adviser, said the reductions to college campuses will be steep to help close a $1.6 billion shortfall.
But Nichols also said the administration is interested in finding ways to help offset some of those cuts.
Louisiana's colleges and universities are more heavily managed by the Legislature and state officials than their peers in some other states.
Higher education leaders are looking for more autonomy for their campuses to manage their own finances. They say if they could shop for insurance policies outside of the state system, get more authority over their purchasing and contracts and sell their surplus property, they could save money that they could use to help lessen the impact of budget cuts.
"Conceptually, we support the ideas. We need to work through it," Nichols said.
Other ideas get into trickier territory of raising fees and charging increased tuition, which could take two-thirds backing from lawmakers for passage. There are proposals to charge students more for courses that are more expensive or to raise tuition on out-of-state students.
Higher education leaders also have again raised the debate of asking lawmakers to give up their tuition-setting authority and leaving that to the college systems to decide.
But increases in tuition on in-state, undergraduate students raise the cost of the state's free college tuition program called TOPS, so lawmakers have been unwilling to release their grip on establishing the rates.
Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, said while he thinks lawmakers would be willing to raise student fees and make other changes, he hasn't seen an interest from lawmakers in boosting tuition or making changes to the TOPS program.
– by AP Reporter Melinda Deslatte
