Budget Proposes $71M in Cuts to Louisiana Colleges

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's public colleges are facing cuts of at least $71 million in next year's budget proposal, as it awaits debate on the House floor this week.

Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell said Monday that college leaders will be pushing a bill to allow the schools to raise fees on students to cover the gap.

Colleges had been proposed for standstill funding next year, but that was before the state's income forecasts fell. The House budget-writing committee rebalanced the budget proposal to account for the revenue loss. Purcell says the governor's financial analysts say higher education now stands to be slashed by $71 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The college fee increase proposal could come up for debate in the House Education Committee on Wednesday.