The sun shines brightly on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, above the University of New Orleans entrance sign on Lakeshore Drive. (Photo by Matthew Perschall)
Louisiana’s colleges and universities are walking away from the 2024 legislative session with more cash for infrastructure and research and new governance changes that could introduce more politics in higher education.
Higher education scored several wins in the session that ends Monday in the form of extra cash and the Legislature shying away from ultra-conservative proposals that have been adopted in other states to curb academic freedom.
“For decades we have needed comprehensive solutions to tackle higher education’s $2 (billion) deferred maintenance challenge, improve retirement options for faculty and staff, and reasonably differentiate tuition for high-cost programs,” Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said in a statement. “I am proud that, in this Legislative Session, each of those critical needs has been addressed.”
But lost fights foretell rough seas for higher education in the coming years.
Budget boost
The biggest budget win for higher education is the creation of a new fund to fix a lengthy list of crumbling infrastructure on state campuses.
The Legislature passed House Bill 940 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which would provide money for maintenance work without going through the annual state construction budget. Lawmakers deposited an initial $75 million in cash to kick start a seven- to 10-year program to address approximately $2 billion in deferred maintenance.
In addition to money provided for regular expenses for the state’s four college systems, the Legislature also appropriated millions for research, faculty recruitment and new construction. Other legislative earmarks, such as $250,000 for new uniforms for the Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band, were tucked into a supplemental appropriations bill that lawmakers use to dole out small amounts for projects in their districts.
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Retirement win
In perhaps the biggest victory for higher education this year, the Legislature passed a bill that would provide more lucrative retirement savings options to thousands of state college and university employees.
House Bill 31 by Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, easily passed both chambers. It would allow participants in the optional plan of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) hired before July 31, 2020, to switch to a defined benefit plan.
More than 6,000 public college and university faculty and staff members have enrolled in the state’s “portable” or optional retirement plan, which allows them to take their accrued benefits with them if they choose to leave Louisiana for another job. In exchange for that portability, employees lose out on more lucrative benefits available through a fixed, pension-style retirement plan offered to most state employees.
Under Freiberg’s bill, a university employee who switches to the defined benefit plan would start at year zero for the purposes of retirement. That means their benefit calculations would be based on their switchover date, not when their employment began, although they would retain contributions to their optional retirement plans.
Over the past two decades, lawmakers have rejected similar proposals on eight separate occasions. Six times the bill never made it out of committee.
Governor in governance
A new bill to allow the governor to directly appoint the chairs of nearly 150 boards and commissions, including the chairs of the five higher education boards, easily passed.
In its original state, the bill would’ve allowed the governor to directly hire university system presidents as well, but that language was stripped out.
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who supports the bill, has said it is about higher education.
“This fight is all about universities,” Landry said in an April interview with WAFB-TV. “The people of this state are ready for these universities to start taking some responsibility for putting out students that are graduating with degrees that they can’t even get a job for.”
Critics have raised concern that giving the governor further power over the state’s five higher education boards could have an impact on college and university accreditation, a fundamental need for the functioning of a school that allows it to access federal funds.
Governors already appoint members of the four university and college system boards of supervisors and the Board of Regents, which oversees higher education in Louisiana. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the accrediting body for Louisiana universities, requires that governing boards for its accredited schools remain free from undue external influence.
Giving the governor the ability to appoint higher education board chairs could impact accreditation if the governor seeks to use that power to influence the operations of a college or university.
Tuition autonomy
Colleges and universities will soon have the long-sought power to change tuition costs without legislative approval. But it comes with a caveat: The four governing boards can decrease tuition and fees for any program but can only increase tuition for graduate programs and high-cost undergraduate programs.
House Bill 862 by Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, will allow boards for Louisiana’s four university systems to set differential tuition for any graduate, professional or high-cost undergraduate programs. The bill would also give the boards complete control over mandatory fees.
Differential tuition is an amount charged on top of base tuition for more expensive academic programs, such as lab-heavy curricula in science or engineering. The Board of Regents, the state oversight board for all higher education, would identify which programs are considered “high-cost.”
Louisiana currently requires a two-thirds of the Legislature to sign off on any tuition changes at its public colleges and universities. Most other states leave this decision up to higher education management boards.
Hughes’ bill does not allow university systems to raise fees and differential tuition more than 10% every two years. It will not have an impact on the cost of TOPS, which provides state-funded tuition aid to many Louisiana students, as the amount of the award is no longer directly tied to the cost of tuition.
Action on diversity deferred
A proposal designed to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), critical race theory and race-based affirmative action stalled in committee, though it is likely to come back next year after the author, Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, irons out details with higher education leaders.
The Legislature did pass House Bill 904, by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge, which requires school-level reports on all DEI personnel, programs and spending at all Louisiana K-12 schools, colleges and universities.
Attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion are often premised on the idea that such programs bloat college budgets and increase student debt, in addition to conflicting with conservative viewpoints. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis requested a similar report in 2022. A review of this report by the Chronicle of Higher Education found no institution devoted more than 1% of its budget on DEI undertakings, with some spending as little as $9,000.
Louisiana schools fall far below Florida in spending in practically every area.
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Post-prison education
The powerful, conservative business lobby came together with progressive groups, advocates for incarcerated people, good government groups and higher education leaders to advocate for a bill that would have extended state-funded student aid for high-demand workforce programs to people convicted of violent crimes.
But that wasn’t enough to stop ultra-conservative Sen. Blake Miguez of New Iberia from stopping the bill in its tracks.
At Miguez’s insistence, House Bill 728 by Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, passed without assistance for formerly incarcerated people. In its current state, it lowers the age eligibility for the M.J. Foster Promise Program to help students pursue associate degrees and short-term credentials in high-demand occupations from 21 to 17.
Proponents of the original version of the bill have said education is an important tool for reducing recidivism. The Louisiana Association for Business and Industry voiced its support to provide access to vocational training for the formerly incarcerated.
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