Louisiana cuts funding to higher education; New Orleans-area colleges and universities struggle

The $74.5 million in state cuts to higher education in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans-area colleges and universities to eliminate faculty, staff and academic programs.The cuts represent a nearly 6 percent dent in the state's pre-Katrina higher education budget of $1.24

billion.National education experts are not surprised by the reduction.Higher education is a fair- weather expense, said Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. When there's money, higher ed gets plenty of it from the state. When things go south, higher education gets kicked in the shins.Since Katrina, all public and private universities in the New Orleans area have restructured following student enrollment decreases. In some cases, education officials say the cuts have been minor - like at Xavier University where 324 faculty and staff positions were cut but no academic programs were eliminated.In other instances, especially in public colleges - the cuts were more severe.The University of New Orleans was recently granted financial exigency by the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors. According to state law, financial exigency exists when an institution's financial resources cannot support existing programs and personnel costs. UNO also plans to eliminate 12 academic degree programs, including economics and human performance and self- promotion to save $16.5 million.We're faced with massive financial problems, said UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan. When you lose almost 13 percent of your revenue boost in one fell swoop, you can't just cut around the edges.

Enrollment slippageSouthern University at New Orleans reduced 19 academic granting degrees, including accounting, math, English, physics and chemistry. This doesn't mean students cannot take these courses but incoming freshmen will not have the option of graduating with a degree in the programs.We'll still offer those programs as a concentration. The challenge we have now is to get the student body back to what it was prior to Katrina, said SUNO Chancellor Victor Ukpolo. But it's not easy, education officials say. Colleges depend on student enrollment for revenue and when that funding is decreased, public and private institutions must make up the difference.On a per-student basis, Louisiana has not been as generous as some of its colleague states around the country, but you have to take that and put it into context, said Reindl. Louisiana is a poor state. When you look at Louisiana compared to its peer states, you can make the argument that Louisiana holds its own.Louisiana appropriated $5,000 per full-time student in 2005 for higher education, according to the AASCU, ranking No. 33 in the nation and 17 percent under the national average of $5,825 per student.By comparison, Texas allocates $5,384, Arkansas distributes $4,691 and Mississippi allots $4,849 per full-time student.Wyoming ranked No. 1 in the nation with $12,354 per student.

Gaining groundState higher education officials are optimistic higher education is moving up in the Legislature's pecking order.While we could obviously use more money, the fact is Louisiana has prioritized higher education and continues to do so, said Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie. These storms have sharply focused colleges and universities on their priorities.Since August, every university chancellor and college president in the greater New Orleans area has had to refocus university goals and implement layoffs and academic cuts.In December, Tulane University President Scott Cowen defended cutting the college of engineering and other programs to reorganize the university.In April, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, president of Loyola University New Orleans, revealed a restructuring plan to realign five colleges, drop several degree programs and eliminate 17 faculty positions.Other colleges, like SUNO, eliminated academic programs and also added courses like public administration to increase the economic demand in response to Katrina.

Bright spotsThere have been a few silver linings for higher education.The U.S. Department of Education allocated $95 million to colleges and universities affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. New Orleans-area institutions received about 93 percent of the funding, and chancellors and presidents should begin to see that money in the next couple of weeks.Last Tuesday, the nation of Qatar donated $60 million to Louisiana education, including $10 million to Tulane and $17.5 million to Xavier. Reindl said recovery can't be accomplished without students, teachers and administrators in key leadership roles. In the public sector, New Orleans is blessed with some very good leadership, said Reindl. That leadership has to stay very focused on what must be done in the short term but not take their eyes off the ball of the long-term objective.