The state House passed a bill Monday which would allow the Board of Regents to increase tuition and mandatory fees by up to five percent each year for the next four years. The bill is currently assigned to the Senate Education Committee, which will make a recommendation before the bill goes before the Senate. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the measure today.
House Bill 734, sponsored by Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, would allow tuition and mandatory fees at state colleges and universities to be increased by three, four or five percent each year to compete with the average tuition of similar institutions in the Southern Regional Education Board.
The percentage of the increase will be based on how far below the institution’s tuition and mandatory fees are in comparison to the average of similar institutions.
The bill is estimated to raise $27 million for state colleges and universities in the first year.
The bill passed the House this week 83-18, after the proposal failed by two votes last week.
According to the Associated Press, Louisiana is the only state in the nation that requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to increase tuition.
The governor must sign the bill before it can become law. The AP reported Gov. Bobby Jindal has not taken a position on the proposed tuition increase.
According to the AP, the bill’s supporters said the increase is needed to attract faculty, update facilities and offer a quality education to students. The tuition will help colleges and universities keep up with and compete against other colleges in the South.
Opponents said many students cannot afford a tuition increase. Opponents also argued the state should provide more funding to colleges and universities instead of the tuition increase.
“There were some fairly impassioned arguments made the first time (last week) about the negative impact on students,” Joseph Savoie, State Commissioner for Higher Education, said in an article in The Advocate Tuesday. “We just had to demonstrate how they’re relatively small increases.”
The Advocate reported Trahan believes the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students will cover the increases; however, state funding of the increase is still pending.
The state estimates the tuition increase will raise TOPS expenditures by $7.3 million.
