The state’s top higher education board gave the go-ahead Wednesday to all but two of Louisiana’s public colleges to raise tuition beginning in the fall.
Only LSU at Eunice and Southern University at Shreveport did not meet the standards set forth in the 2010 LA GRAD Act which ties student performance to tuition raising authority.
The 10 percent tuition hike is all but certain at the state’s other public colleges. Management board for the LSU, University of Louisiana and Louisiana Community and Technical College systems have already voted to approve increases for the fall semester.
Southern System President Ronald Mason said he will recommend Southern follow suit at their board meeting scheduled for Friday morning.
The GRAD Act is made up of several dozen benchmarks based predominantly on student success. The law allows colleges to increase tuition by up to 10 percent a year, if they meet those performance goals. Additionally, the state’s performance-based funding formula ties 15 percent of overall state funding for each college on meeting the GRAD Act goals.
The Louisiana Board of Regents determines each year which schools have reached their GRAD Act targets. Larry Tremblay, the Regents deputy commissioner for planning research and academic affairs, told the board Southern’s Shreveport school, known as SUSLA, plans to appeal the ruling.
