Legislation allowing the LSU and Southern University law schools to increase tuition by up to 15 percent in each of the next five academic years sailed through the House Education Committee on Thursday. The law school chancellors argued that the extra tuition revenue was necessary to offset ongoing state budget cuts to colleges.
Annual tuition at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center currently is about $14,500 for full-time, in-state students and nearly $8,000 at the Southern University Law Center. A 15 percent initial hike would increase LSU’s cost to more than $16,600 and to about $9,200 at Southern.
Hypothetically, if LSU were to take the maximum 15 percent each year, the law center’s in-state cost could exceed $29,000 in five years.
