Leaders request to maintain tuition levels - KORAN ADDO, the Advocate

For the second day in a row, higher education leaders called on the state Legislature to leave tuition-raising authority to the management boards that govern Louisiana’s four college systems. Louisiana is the only state in the nation where the Legislature has complete tuition control over public colleges and universities. State Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell asked legislators Thursday to consider ceding some tuition control to the management boards. He said $426 million in state budget cuts since 2008 made it difficult to maintain expensive academic programs and retain the faculty needed to teach those programs. On Friday, Southern system President Ronald Mason told the Joint Budget Committee that systems could build their budgets “more creatively” if given the chance. http://theadvocate.com/home/4192880-125/colleges-ask-for-authority