La. higher education leader seeking new tuition increases

Louisiana’s top higher education official says the state’s investment in public colleges has sunk to its lowest level in more than 50 years, when compared to income levels, and he’s pushing for new tuition increases to offset some of the loss. Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell says more money is needed on campuses to train workers to fill in-demand jobs across the state. “Even though we are making progress, we’re not meeting the human capital needs,” Purcell said on Tuesday, in advance of a presentation he’ll be making to the Board of Regents about higher education funding and a push to ask lawmakers to change state tuition policy. Purcell is asking lawmakers for more tuition-setting autonomy for college management boards, saying schools need the ability to charge higher tuition and fee rates for specialized and higher-cost programs, like engineering, advanced technology fields and nursing. He notes the number of high-profile job announcements made by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration in recent months. Purcell say he applauds the business announcements but adds that Louisiana’s colleges aren’t turning out the number of specialized workers needed to fill the industry jobs that will be created in the coming years. He points to data by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education that show Louisiana spends $6.67 for every $1,000 of personal income in the state. Purcell says that’s the lowest state investment since the 1950s. More details can be found in the full story by The Associated Press here.