We need more common-sense leadership in this crisis than we’ve been getting from elected officials, from Gov. Bobby Jindal on down.
Higher education has made some reductions already. More than 70 “low-completer” academic programs across the state have been eliminated by the Board of Regents. Mid-year budget cuts already have stung campuses. Proposed cuts for the fiscal year beginning July 1 are much worse.
We believe more state support, not less, should be policymakers’ goal for universities in Louisiana. Still, it’s appropriate that campus leaders understand and communicate to their college communities that the decline in state revenue is a real problem that mandates a commitment to using taxpayer and tuition-payer dollars wisely.
