Higher Education

Like the Department of Corrections, the Higher Education community was left relatively untouched by the massive budget cuts implemented through the Executive budget. Higher Education lost 19 positions overall. The Administration made a commitment early in the Session that Higher Education would not sustain the type of cuts it had in the past. Moreover, the Governor felt that instituting any cuts would undo the advancement made over the last four years. The FY01 total budget for Higher Education is approximately $48 million over the FY00 existing operating budget, which represents a $23 million increase in State General Fund. The FY01 Total Means of Financing is $1.7 billion. The following items are some of the significant FY01 changes from the current year budget:

Increase in Interagency Transfers for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Science Center due to higher projections of Uncompensated Care Cost and Medicaid collection	$14,709,442
Funding for the LSU Health Science to correct Interagency Transfer problem between the Shreveport and New Orleans campuses.	$12,754,910
Additional formula allocation funds to be distributed by the Board of Regents (see distribution below)	$11,900,000
Maintained funding for the Aid to Independent Institutions program through the Board of Regents. These funds pay for eligible Louisiana resident students at the following colleges and universities: Centenary College, Dillard University, Louisiana College, Loyola University, Our Lady of Holy Cross, Tulane University, Tulane Medical Center, Xavier University, Our Lady of the Lake College, and St. Joseph Seminary College	$4,260,486
Increased funding from the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund 8(g) (Statutory Dedication) for additional endowed chairs and Professorships	$2,720,000
New funding for Louisiana State University Health Science Center in New Orleans for the new Clinical Science Building	$2,358,425
Increased funding for the Gene Therapy Initiative. The existing funding is from Tobacco Revenues but will be replaced in the upcoming fiscal year with state general fund	$2,500,000
Additional funds to annualize the Emerging Community College Pool *Of the funds appropriated for community colleges, $250,000 is allocated to Delta Community College for start-up costs.	$1,500,000
The Louisiana Kidney Care Program received an additional $300,000 bringing the total program to $1.9 million	$1,900,000

Higher Education Formula Distribution

The following chart shows the distribution of the Library, Scientific and Instructional Equipment funds, (a Capital Outlay appropriation of $15 million) and Operational Funding ie. Formula Enhancement (a General Operating Budget Appropriation of $11.9 million). The distributions are "preliminary" distributions, which are subject to the approval by the Board of Regents at their August meeting. The Board of Regents is directing the schools to use the allocation in preparing their operating budgets.

In reviewing the distribution, the following points should be kept in mind:

• The allocation for the Southern University Land Grant match is subject to approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.
• The allocations of operation funds to the management boards are not made for management board use, but instead, is for them to allocate to the institutions based upon high priority needs the management boards identity.
• The allocation to the Board of Regents is for distribution to the Library Network, which benefits all institutions and, possible, the allocation may be used for additional funding for LUMCON.

Technical Colleges

Throughout the 2000 Sessions, concerns over the distribution of funds for Technical Colleges were of primary interest for many legislators. Since the close of the 2^nd Extraordinary Session, many Senators have inquired about the direct impact on or any change in funding for Technical Colleges in their districts. The following chart indicates such impact by showing the funding level which each campus received in FY 2000 (Column 3) and what each campus will receive for FY 2001 based on preliminary funding estimates (Column 5).

Column 4 is the allocation that each campus would receive if full implementation of the formula were instituted in FY01. Instead, the Board will implement the formula over a four-year period of time; and therefore, only one-fourth will be implemented for FY01. As can be seen by the chart, no school will receive a reduction in excess of approximately $100,000. Again, Column 5 is the funding level each campus will receive based on preliminary estimates. All funding proposals must receive final approval from the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges.

It should be noted that the estimates are preliminary. In fact, the numbers are likely to change for the better due to an additional pool of money received from the Board of Regents enhanced funding pool and additional revenue to be received when the technical college campuses may increase tuition for the winter sessions.

Tuition Increases

Act 4 (House Bill 10) of the 2000 2^nd Extraordinary Session authorized each higher education management board to increase tuition at any college and/or university to a maximum of $250 at a college and/or university and a maximum of $100 at technical colleges. Moreover, legislation was passed during the 1^st Extraordinary Session of 2000 to allow LSU-Baton Rouge to implement a $250 "Excellence Fee" to begin in the Fall of 2000.

To date, the following systems have authorized tuition increases at their respective institutions — it should be noted that authorization by a system to increase tuition does not necessarily indicate that each university and/or college under the system will raise tuition. Each university and/or college makes that decision independently once they have received authorization.

• The LSU System has authorized a $250 per academic year increase for the Fall of 2000. LSU-Baton Rouge will implement their $250 Excellence Fee at this time.
• The Southern System did not authorize tuition increases for the Fall 2000/Spring 2001 semesters.
• The University of Louisiana System has authorized a $250 tuition increase per academic year at each institution beginning in the Fall of 2000.
• The Community and Technical College System authorized tuition increases of $250 per academic year beginning in the Fall of 2000 for the state’s Community Colleges. Baton Rouge Community College, (BRCC), will not have any tuition increase for the upcoming academic year.
• Technical colleges were not authorized to increase tuition for the Fall 2000 term, but may increase tuition (maximum $100) for the winter term.