I find it ironic that at a time when President Obama is calling for improved funding for higher ed (http://time.com/3660891/obama-proposes-free-community-college/) and Tom Hanks is saying his two years in community college made him who he is today (http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/15/news/economy/tom-hanks-community-college/index.html), Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is threatening to cut funding to higher ed in the state yet again. He says the state's universities and colleges should expect another $200-$300 million cut for 2015-2016 year because of revenue loss due to low gas prices. However, gas prices have been high in the past years since 2008 when he cut has cut a total of $673 million from higher ed. This begs the question, what is Jindal's real agenda in systematically crippling higher ed in the state?
The $673 million in budget cuts since 2008 is money every year that Louisiana colleges no longer have to fund their programs and offer services to students. Tuition increases (only when allowed by the legislature, as Louisiana is the only state in the nation in which the legislature must approve any tuition increase by a super majority vote) have not offset these cuts, not by a long shot. Most, if not all, of the 9 regional state universities in the UL System have had to terminate degree programs, cut many faculty and staff, enact hiring freezes, eliminate cost of living and merit raises, and make significant cuts across the board to services and programs in order to penny pinch. Our faculty are already among the lowest paid on average in the nation and there is no fat left to trim. If Jindal gets the legislature to approve a new budget with another round of huge cuts to higher education, then more programs and even whole campuses will likely disappear. This will then force students to look beyond their regional universities--if they are left with one, and perhaps even beyond their state in order to get the quality degree they want.
If you live in Louisiana and read this, please contact your local state legislators and ask them to support higher ed! Your voice needs to be heard, and it needs to be heard now (To look up contact information for your local legislators, simply visit: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx)
The $673 million in budget cuts since 2008 is money every year that Louisiana colleges no longer have to fund their programs and offer services to students. Tuition increases (only when allowed by the legislature, as Louisiana is the only state in the nation in which the legislature must approve any tuition increase by a super majority vote) have not offset these cuts, not by a long shot. Most, if not all, of the 9 regional state universities in the UL System have had to terminate degree programs, cut many faculty and staff, enact hiring freezes, eliminate cost of living and merit raises, and make significant cuts across the board to services and programs in order to penny pinch. Our faculty are already among the lowest paid on average in the nation and there is no fat left to trim. If Jindal gets the legislature to approve a new budget with another round of huge cuts to higher education, then more programs and even whole campuses will likely disappear. This will then force students to look beyond their regional universities--if they are left with one, and perhaps even beyond their state in order to get the quality degree they want.
If you live in Louisiana and read this, please contact your local state legislators and ask them to support higher ed! Your voice needs to be heard, and it needs to be heard now (To look up contact information for your local legislators, simply visit: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx)
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