Dive Brief:
- Students in Louisiana, Illinois, Connecticut, and Wisconsin have fought proposed budget cuts with rallies and outreach to legislators.
- Inside Higher Ed reports student activism has been difficult to harness because cuts don’t directly affect students until they’re already implemented, but student leaders in all four states have claimed some degree of effectiveness in lobbying legislators.
- Budget deadlines in all four states fall in the coming weeks, and students are expected to play less of a role in this final stage because many have left campus for the summer, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
While it looked like Louisiana legislators found a way to avoid the draconian cuts originally proposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, the latest reporting from The Times-Picayune warns he may veto new taxes in a move that would still force significant cuts to the higher education system. Jindal made a promise he would not support any new taxes, and legislators may need to override a veto to keep the higher education funding flat, as they had negotiated earlier this spring with a variety of revenue-raising proposals.
Illinois, Wisconsin, and Connecticut could also see some of the most significant cuts of any states this year. Students may have had trouble getting momentum to oppose these state budgets but their schools will certainly feel the effects of cuts in the coming academic year if they are ultimately approved by legislatures.