I somehow forgot to post this but it is important to some. Ole Miss fans had reasons to celebrate for a short time recently as the Louisiana legislature recommended cutting LSU's budget 82%. Times have come a long way from the days when The Kingfish placed LSU on a pedestal and made it the largest university in the Southeast, 11th largest in the nation, and imported top faculty such as Robert Penn Warren. Nola.com reported on March 25:
So the fact that the Louisiana Legislature has recommended cutting LSU's annual operating budget by 82 percent for the next fiscal year strikes Alexander as devastating not just for the institution, but also for the city of New Orleans.LSU officials discussed the possibility of filing bankruptcy. Not too bright as they forgot there was a $115 million bond deal on the table. Investors heard the talk about bankruptcy, read the proposed budget cuts, and presto, there was no more bond deal. A $1.6 billion deficit in the overall state budget caused the crisis and the draconian proposed budget cuts.
At LSU Health Sciences Center, which sent a majority of its 2015 graduating class of medical students to residency programs in Louisiana, the state recommends cutting the annual budget from $69 million to $12 million.
The entire LSU System's funding would drop from $319 million to around $58 million -- about $6 million less that the 2015 operating budget for the LSU AgCenter alone.
The proposed cuts represent the largest budget reduction in the history of LSU or any other state university system since researchers first began measuring such statistics, Alexander said. They signal a general trend around the country in which states are "trying to get out of the higher education business as fast as possible."
Alexander called Louisiana's role in the trend particularly disheartening, in that LSU has consistently outperformed other flagship institutions.... Rest of article.
However, the legislature came through and saved LSU as well as rest of the Louisiana universities. Cigarette taxes were increased, spending cuts were implemented, and a $1,600 tuition increase was levied on college students BUT a tax credit for the same amount was provided to them as well so Governor Jindal could claim on paper that he did not raise taxes. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. Higher education and health care usually face a disproportionate amount of budget cuts when budgets are tight at the legislature as other areas of government are protected from spending cuts by the state constitution. Article.
Ole Miss fans doubtlessly had a fun right for a couple of months.
10 comments:
I still think there's rather a lot of fun to be had.
When is a tax not a tax? Apparently, when it's a sales tax on a single item sold.
" Students" get a tax credit. Do all students pay their own tuition? Can you can a tax credit on a student loan or a scholarship or can your parents get the tax credit or how about an educational trust? Beer money! PARTY! If the student has to file...
And, since when does balancing a budget include going into savings or capital reserves when next year's expenses will require doing the sam
I can't wait to go find Norquist's convenient " no taxes" guidelines.
That this is going on in Louisiana gives " voodoo economics" a whole new meaning. Perhaps, they have called in those who practice voodoo to help!
These huge cuts have been taking place all over the country. It's like most states no longer think providing an affordable college education within their border is a state's responsibility.
The lack of an education system was high on the list of reasons Texas rebelled against Mexico.
I'm sorry that I wouldn't want to pay higher taxes so a tenured professor can make $100,000 a year teaching 3 hours a week with maybe an hour or two of office hours.
It's not a responsibility of the state to provide an affordable college education to anyone. The state is responsible for providing and maintaining the facilities and personnel to turn children into productive adults. That's it. The parents and children themselves have to do their parts. Lots of kids become productive adults out of high school, and some aren't productive even with multiple college degrees. The further in school you decide to go the more responsibility for the cost - and the end result - you must bear.
9:31. Perhaps at LSU that happens but I guarantee that at the smaller state universities tenured professors make half that and teach 4/5 classes each semester and have plenty of office hours. And no, most of us don't talk politics in or out of the classroom.
Sincerely,
A tenured professor.
"It's not a responsibility of the state to provide an affordable college education to anyone."
There are a few countries that take your point of view, and they are terrible places to live. Sorry you dislike America so much.
LSU didn't charge tuition when Huey was Governor.
Sorry 10:50 that you believe it is the government's responsibility to provide anything and everything that its citizens want. Subsidizing higher education is not one of the requirements of the government. I'm all for good education, and that's why I paid for my kids education thru getting their Bachelors. Told them anything after that was their responsibility. And the education I paid for, by giving up many things I would have liked to have, was done at non-subsidized institutions. Why? Only because that was where they chose to go and did what was required to be able to get into them. That's where the responsibility lies - in the students and their families. Not in the government (read - other citizens of the state).
Many of our state supported institutions do little toward actually providing an education. Others do quite a good job. But we are subsidizing them all, even for those students coming from out of state. Please tell me why a MS taxpayer should be paying for a good education for students from another state.
I know quite a few tenured professors, but none who make 100K.
I'm not that concerned about tuition until I see that illegal aliens are getting a tuition break.
Pee Ess: What's with the dig at Ole Myth? They limped out of Tiger Stadium with a loss whil MSU turned out the lights in Tiger Stadium last September.
Dawg Fan,
Would you kindly do the rest of us Mississippi State grads a favor and not use that handle when you post such vapid,stupid commentary on here?
You sound like an idiot at best. Looks bad for our University.
Best,
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