Dive Brief:
- The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee approved a budget plan that would spare higher education in the state from any major cuts.
- The Times-Picayune reports the legislature passed a host of revenue-raising measures last week, pulling together $615 million more dollars, $575 million of which is slated to go to higher education.
- State colleges and universities would see flat funding this year while health care, the state’s other vulnerable sector when it comes to budget negotiations, would face $180 million in cuts, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Louisiana has been talked about in recent months as the worst-case scenario for budget cuts to higher education. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed budget was an extreme outlier in a time of generally rising investment in higher ed, calling for nearly half a billion in cuts. The legislature’s fundraising efforts, which came in the form of tax increases and canceled tax credits, seems to have saved the state’s colleges and universities. Legislators have the rest of this month to tweak, but the Times-Picayune reports that even Jindal thinks higher ed will get full funding by the end of the session.