Higher Education Tour
MONROE, LA (KNOE) – The Board of Regents, a state agency created by the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, coordinates all public higher education in Louisiana
How should higher education be measured? What are the indicators of progress?
-More Louisianans will be ready for postsecondary education.
-More students are enrolling in postsecondary education.
-More students are advancing through the system.
-More Louisianans are prepared for life and work.
-Louisiana’s communities and the economy will benefit.
The true picture of funding in higher education includes increasing budget cuts as the state continues to invest less and less in higher education. Over the past 10 years, there has been a loss of over $382 million dollars in operational costs for higher education from the state.
Seventy-four cents of every dollar in state higher education funding goes back to the state for mandated costs.
Post-secondary education provides considerable value to individuals, to the economies where educated individuals reside and work, and society in general. Higher education is an investment in the State, not a cost to the State.
In the 2017 Regular Legislative Session, several bills impacted higher-ed…a few of which include:
-Act 44 >>> Sets TOPS awards to the amount of tuition charged during the 2016-17 school year.
-Act 293 >>> Extends the sunset of the public postsecondary boards’ authority to establish student fees for the 2020 academic year.
-SB 225>>> Creates the LaSTEM Advisory Council chaired by the Commissioner; provides for duties & functions; and creates a fund.
The Board of Regents and LOUIS—a Program of the Board of Regents are aiming to secure open source material to replace/eliminate textbooks, resulting in cost savings to students through a program called Affordable Louisiana.