There are several ways to describe how deeply Louisiana has cut appropriations for higher education since 2008: By $684 million. More than 40 percent. The steepest reductions in the nation. Cuts so deep that a near doubling of tuition hasn’t made up the difference.
And after all the pain that the state’s public colleges have endured, there’s little relief in sight. State legislators are now in a special session to decide how much more to cut from higher education and other areas of state spending to close an estimated $900-million shortfall for the current fiscal year.
Though there are a range of options, there is little expectation that lawmakers can find solutions that would spare the state’s public colleges. At the very least, higher education will face a $70-million cut in the remainder of the current budget year, which includes an estimated $28-million cut in the state’s popular merit-based college-scholarship program.
And things get worse for the budget year that begins on July 1: The state is projecting a $2-billion gap, which will almost certainly come with calls for more cuts at public colleges.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: https://chronicle.com/article/A-Grim-Budget-Picture-Means/235556
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