In an email to students on Thursday evening, Nicholls State University President Bruce Murphy shared that higher education and Nicholls may be safe from budget cuts for the rest of this fiscal year.

Murphy wrote, “Governor John Bel Edwards announced that the $70 million in cuts necessary to close the current year’s budget gap that legislators left unresolved in the special session will come solely from the Department of Health and Hospitals.”

This means that aside from the 20 percent TOPS shortfall Nicholls will absorb, the University will be secure for at least the rest of this fiscal year.

In his remarks, the Governor said, “Higher education has suffered the deepest budget cuts of any higher education system in the country over the last eight years — more than $700 million. In addition to that, we are asking them to fund $28 million for TOPS scholarships this year that will come directly out of campus budgets.”

Murphy said, “We appreciate Governor Edwards’ commitment to higher education and his efforts to ensure that Louisiana students continue to have access to high-quality, affordable, public higher education. While the worst of potential cuts were avoided, universities will have to absorb this year’s 20 percent TOPS shortfall, which amounts to a $1.1 million budget cut for Nicholls. This one-time cut will not come easy, but thanks to budget precautions we’ve taken, we expect to manage it with only slight impact on campus operations. Nicholls remains cautious heading into next fiscal year, and we look forward to working with the governor’s office and our legislators to establish stabilized funding for higher education in the future.”