BATON ROUGE — The House Education Committee unanimously advanced a bill that would allow the Higher Education Administration to increase tuition for high-cost majors and establish mandatory fees for all programs.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jason Hughes (D-New Orleans), would limit increases to no more than 10% of last year's levels.
“We are the only state in the nation that requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to approve tuition,” he said. “We are one of only two states, along with Florida, where the Legislature has some control over tuition.”
He said the information came from the Southern Regional School Board. More expensive programs include architecture, engineering, and nursing.
Hughes said the bill would give Louisiana's Higher Education Commission similar powers to similar school boards in Texas, Alabama and Arkansas, allowing the board to set tuition rates. .
“This bill gives our institutions the flexibility to find ways to best address the needs of their academic programs, including providing specialized laboratories and equipment and investing in faculty retention,” he said. I guess.'' “Systems and campuses need the ability to operate and grow high-value programs now and in the future.”
This authority applies only to academic programs, faculty, facilities, and student success. There will be no increase in administrator salary or impact on TOPS scholarships.
Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, testified in support of the bill.
“This is a tool that we believe will be needed in the future should Louisiana find itself in a situation where it must take action as a result of reduced state revenue,” he said.
Sullivan and Joe Savoie, president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said there are no plans to raise tuition or fees at this time, but they feel this safety net is necessary in case the state budget decreases. Ta.
Additionally, Sullivan, Savoie, and Hughes emphasized that tuition and fees only increase for expensive programs.
“Engineering is a more expensive program than English,” Savoie said. “Students, however, are charged the same way. They have additional equipment needed, faculty salaries go up, and they have to take on more lab responsibilities. So these programs are actually more expensive than other programs, So we get revenue from a cheaper program. So if the financial situation gets tough and we need to make some adjustments, we think making adjustments on the cost side is probably the smartest thing to do.”
Representative Charles A. Owens (R-Rosepine) expressed support for the bill.
“When things get bad, we take money from hospitals and educational institutions,” he says. He hoped the legislation would allow postsecondary institutions to maintain a fixed budget over multiple years.
When the .45 cent state sales tax expires next year, the state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and be forced to make budget cuts. Funding for higher education and many health programs is not guaranteed by state constitutions or laws, so these areas typically bear the brunt of state budget cuts.
Rep. Kendricks “Ken” Blass (D-Vashley) supported the bill but wondered how the tuition waiver process would change under the policy.
Hughes said there will be no changes to programs such as TOPS, Pell Grants and other programs that can cover tuition.
Blass was concerned that students and their families may have to make up the difference between tuition increases and tuition waivers.
Rep. Philip Tarver (R-Lake Charles) was concerned about what a potential 10% annual increase in tuition would look like over multiple years. Hughes explained that it depends on Congressional funding and the number of students attending the institution. But Mr Hughes insisted the policy was intended as a safety net in case higher education funding tightens.
