Article archive / February 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 6. Source pages: 1, 3, 4.
6.6 percent increase, but some experts not impressed
In a press release last week Governor Jindal announced his budget which included a small increase for the state’s university systems. The budget puts forth the Governor’s plan to hold the line on taxes, increase funding for higher education, increase funding for K-12 schools, and increase funding for healthcare, accord- ing to the announcement on January 24, 2014.
For higher education, this should mean that no more deep cuts will occur to the beleaguered state universities for the coming budget year.
In an earlier press release, the Governor defended his programs, saying that his reforms were working. “We are in the midst of an economic renaissance in Louisiana,” he said. “Since 2008, we have announced economic development wins that are resulting in more than 80,000 new jobs and more than $50 billion in private capital investment. Because of these job wins, more people are employed than ever before in Louisiana.”
“Tens of thousands of jobs are now in the pipeline that must be filled, and our next challenge is to ensure we have the skilled workforce to fill these jobs of the future. Economists have recently said they have never seen an industrial expansion like the one under way in Louisiana, but have also warned that we must do a better job training skilled workers that will be needed to fill the demand for jobs at the major industrial and high tech projects coming to Louisiana. That’s why our top priority must be making sure we have the resources to prepare our students and train them for the jobs of the future.”
The announcements highlighted increases in state general funding for higher education and increases total higher education funding by $141.5 million – a 6.6 percent increase over last year, according to the announcement.
Jan Moller and David Gray from the Louisiana Budget Project, wrote, “The good news from Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget is that the bleeding has finally stopped in higher education. After five straight years of deep cuts to public colleges and universities — one of the few areas of the state budget that are unprotected by state law or the Constitution — the proposed budget for 2014-15 actually calls for a slight funding increase.”
In comparing states in their support for higher education, the Postsecondary Education Opportunity, an organization for research about education policy, found Louisiana to have reached a 50-year low in funding (see graph).
The Governor’s announcement said that funding includes a new higher education workforce incentive initiative of $40 million that will help prepare Louisiana students to compete in the new global economy. These funds will be made available to state research institutions that produce nationally recognized commercial research and to state colleges and universities that partner with private industry to produce graduates with high-demand degrees and certificates.
More than $82.5 million will go to Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS), Louisiana’s merit-based scholarship program. The bottom line increase to TOPS is $17 million, the announcement noted. Other investments were outlined.
However, according to Moller and Gray of the La Budget Project, “… there is actually less there than meets the eye,” when the numbers are unpacked. Some of the money will come from raising tuitions and some is contingent on matching funding from private sector partnerships.
“Still, it’s a lot better than getting cut,” the authors said, “which has been the story in higher education since the Great Recession and two unaffordable income-tax cuts collapsed the state revenue base and forced colleges through an unprecedented retrenchment.”
In his introduction to his budget, the Governor supported his approaches, noting that he began in 2008 to shrink the size of government in order to grow the private sector economy and create more private sector jobs. He said that year 2013 was a record year for business expansion and investment in Louisiana.
Governor Jindal said that more than 80,000 new jobs and more than $50 billion in private capital investment have resulted, and now the state much develop new skilled employees .
He pointed to the new incentive fund that will be called the Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy Fund – or WISE Fund. The funds will be made available to state research institutions that produce nationally recognized commercial research and to state colleges and universities that produce graduates with 4 and 5 STAR job ready degrees. research and to state colleges and universities that produce graduates with 4 and 5 STAR job ready degrees. To receive these funds, institutions will have to partner with private industry by recruiting at least a 20 percent private match in cash or in kind, such as technology and equipment, according to the announcement.
Governor Jindal said this collaboration between Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and the leaders of higher education has created a targeted investment strategy.
The press release listed partnerships already in place: IBM has entered into a partnership with the LSU School of Engineering. In the UL System, LED recently partnered with UNO and GE Capital, Bossier Parish Community College recently received a $750,000 investment from EnCana Oil & Gas and Shell E&P to create an Oil & Gas Production Technology program. In New Orleans, Delgado partnered with 45 regional manufacturing and construction firms such as Laitram, Cornerstone, Shell, and Bollinger, in addition to UNO, Southeastern, and Nicholls, to produce 1,500 qualified graduates over four years for the manufacturing sector. Southern University recently partnered with Genesis Energy to create a $100,000 scholarship fund, invest $25,000 in Southern’s Civil and Engineering labs, and help Southern ensure its curricula were aligned with the workforce needs of Genesis.
Graphs
Examples of two funding sources over time for three university systems.
The blue line shows the funding from the state general fund (in millions) from the enacted budget.
The red line shows the self-generated funds.
Source: State budgets
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.