Jindal budget assumes college tuition increase

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget would be costly to Louisiana’s college students. Tucked in the pages of the $24.9 billion spending plan are provisions for spending more than $98 million that Jindal hopes the state’s colleges will get through tuition hikes. Separate legislation would need to be passed to enact the cost increases, and higher education leaders are supporting the bills. The tuition and fee increases would come on top of $60 million in increased costs for students already set to take effect this fall for the 2011-12 school year. Those increases are as large as 10% at some schools, and they will grow for at least four additional years, under legislation passed last year. The Jindal administration says another round of price hikes for students would ensure the colleges and universities have the resources they need. It also mollifies complaints from college chiefs and business leaders who have criticized several previous rounds of higher education budget cuts approved over the last two years by Jindal. Critics of the latest round of tuition and fee boosts that will be sought by Jindal in the upcoming regular session beginning April 25 call them a tax increase on students by a governor who regularly rails against tax increases and talks of a need to “do more with less.” The increased costs for students are less than the $162 million price hike proposed by LSU System President John Lombardi, who presented a plan to the Board of Regents late last year and called the increases an appropriate level of student support for the educational benefit.