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How will proposals to alter governance and funding impact the role of colleges?
Higher Education dodged the budget-cut bullet for the next fiscal year, but still faces pressure for significant change. How will proposals to alter governance and funding impact the role of colleges? Watch “Higher Ed Challenges and Opportunities” on Louisiana Public Square, airing Wednesday, 24 at 7 p.m. on LPB.
While Governor Jindal’s proposed budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year doesn’t include any new cuts to Higher Ed, the state has made cuts of more than $250 million to two and four-year colleges over the last 14 months. These cuts are likely to be permanent. Factoring in the loss of federal stimulus money in 2012, some analysts say that a total budget cut to higher education approaching 40% is not “an unlikely scenario” in the coming years. Burdened by impending reductions, Higher Ed faces pressure for significant change but also the opportunity for rethinking how it operates. Barry Erwin, with the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) says, “The budget is dictating really a lot of questions, a lot of discussion and a lot of debate about what higher education is going to look like in the future. Can we afford it the way that it looks right now? Does it need to be downsized? Does it need to be retooled in some way – rebalanced between technical and community college and four year schools? All of those are huge issues and they’re being driven by the budget discussion.” So, what recommendations are out there and how will proposals to alter governance and funding impact the role of post-secondary education?
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I agree with Kathleen , continue to offer funding to all eligible stidents and make them sign a contract that states , if they drop out without a legible reason then they are responsible for that debt… And help the state to stop spending
money that it doesnt even have…
It is all Louisiana Scools and I believe that all schools should be unified in all levels of education. No school should be on ground level and others on top. We should help each other with shareing ideals to see every school on the top level. Not just in higher education, but pre K-12th grades as well. If we put as much pride in our children education as we put into our selves, education in Louisiana would be awesome!! Some seem to have their pride in the wrong places.
As a state employee at a public university, why are classified employees - who don’t make much above poverty level already - being tapped to absorb the budget deficit? It would be much more equitable to cut government spending across the board by 1/2 to 1 percent, rather than threatening to furlough our employees, or eliminate any merit increases - which, by the way is the closest to a cost of living increase the classified employee has gotten over the past decade or more.
The TOPS program should revert to what was known as Honors scholarships in the past. Honors scholars were given a “full ride” at state schools if they had a 3.5 GPA and a certain ACT score. There should also be a needs test. I saw a report a couple years ago that said if the family income level was cut off at $300k/yr, the state would save over $18M on TOPS. TOPS standards are too low and too much public money is wasted on underprepared students. People had ways to pay for college before TOPS was created, and those ways of paying for college are all still available. There are grants, scholarships, loans, family savings, or you can even work to pay your own way in the military or any other job.
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