Authement asks for cuts due to shortfall

LOUISIANA La. — UL department heads have been asked to shrink budgets by 4 percent, and students will pay more tuition this fall to make up for an expected $3.4 million state funding shortfall, university President Ray Authement said Tuesday.

The Legislature agreed to let universities raise tuition by up to 3 percent every year for three years. This will be the third hike for students in as many years. While Authement said that students should not be expected to pay for the entire shortfall, tuition will have to increase, he just doesn’t know by how much.

Students at UL Lafayette paid $1,535.75 to carry a full load this semester, which is below the median tuition rate of $2,641 for comparable schools, according to the Southern Regional Education Board.

Authement said that he understands the strain it can cause students and their parents.

“I think many of our families are hard-pressed to pay whatever tuition they have to pay now,” he said. “So, we do that reluctantly, but we may have to seek an increase in tuition of some size.”

Some students said they wouldn’t mind paying more, if it means needed programs and projects don’t get axed.

“We need to start seeing results,” said Jason Coleman, a sophomore studying kinesiology. Coleman’s friend, Lawrence Williams, pointed at the steel frame of the new B.I. Moody III building for the college of business administration as an example.

“If it’s more stuff like this, it’s cool,” he said.

Kandice Deslatte, a sophomore biology major, also felt that the increase would be worth it.

“They need to raise it because we can have better stuff,” Deslatte said. “I came from Pennsylvania and this school is so cheap that it doesn’t matter if the tuition increases. They can use the money to add stuff we really need.”

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com