Authement's not as financially responsible as we're led to believe

[bigguill]

I graduated from UL in May 2006. I love my alma-mater and all, but sometimes I get so frustrated. I personally am tired of hearing about the lack of money and stuff. UL talks about having the lowest tuition in the state, but at what cost, sitting in a class room with no AC during the heat of August? I mean come on. I know that UL wants to be an affordable university for people in the community, but its obvious that the university is on a tight budget, so maybe raising tuition might help a little.

Another thing that makes me fume with disgust is the fact that on-campus housing now costs $2000 a semester. Thats more than tuition!! Housing at UL costs $2000 a semester. I don't know about any of you, but I lived on campus, Stokes Projects and Conference Center for 4 1/2 of my 5 years of college. Those dorms were built in the 1960s and paid for themselves 25 years ago. Everything now is just profit. There are only two male dorms in a campus of 16,000. Two dorms!! And they are using the money that current students are paying to pay for more legacy park apartments. Instead of building normal, affordable dorms, they want to build over-price, cheaply built apartments. Tuition my be cheap enough for the average students, but I don't know of too many students who can afford living in legacy, so what's the point.

Currently working at a university which is the same size as UL has really given me a perspective on the way things are at UL. To walk around campus here seeing the new buildings going up, the brand new dorms, the newly renovated student center, it makes me a little envious. But, this school does have the backing of the Texas state government as oppossed to UL having the Louisiana state government. That's a battle in and of itself.

This past semester, I lived with two recent graduates of SHSU and they recieved at least two or three letters from the university asking for them to give back financially. I've never recieved anything like that from UL, I don't even know if UL does that. If they did, who knows how much money they could raise. I'm not in the position to give a big time donation, but a little bit from a lot of people adds up. I don't know if I even want to give back to UL until I see leadership that is actually progressive. We all like to invest in something worthwhile.

[rhineaux]

_ I graduated from UL in May 2006. I love my alma-mater and all, but sometimes I get so frustrated. I personally am tired of hearing about the lack of money and stuff. UL talks about having the lowest tuition in the state, but at what cost, sitting in a class room with no AC during the heat of August? I mean come on. I know that UL wants to be an affordable university for people in the community, but its obvious that the university is on a tight budget, so maybe raising tuition might help a little.

Another thing that makes me fume with disgust is the fact that on-campus housing now costs $2000 a semester. Thats more than tuition!! Housing at UL costs $2000 a semester. I don't know about any of you, but I lived on campus, Stokes Projects and Conference Center for 4 1/2 of my 5 years of college. Those dorms were built in the 1960s and paid for themselves 25 years ago. Everything now is just profit. There are only two male dorms in a campus of 16,000. Two dorms!! And they are using the money that current students are paying to pay for more legacy park apartments. Instead of building normal, affordable dorms, they want to build over-price, cheaply built apartments. Tuition my be cheap enough for the average students, but I don't know of too many students who can afford living in legacy, so what's the point.

Currently working at a university which is the same size as UL has really given me a perspective on the way things are at UL. To walk around campus here seeing the new buildings going up, the brand new dorms, the newly renovated student center, it makes me a little envious. But, this school does have the backing of the Texas state government as oppossed to UL having the Louisiana state government. That's a battle in and of itself.

This past semester, I lived with two recent graduates of SHSU and they recieved at least two or three letters from the university asking for them to give back financially. I've never recieved anything like that from UL, I don't even know if UL does that. If they did, who knows how much money they could raise. I'm not in the position to give a big time donation, but a little bit from a lot of people adds up. I don't know if I even want to give back to UL until I see leadership that is actually progressive. We all like to invest in something worthwhile. _

UL cannot raise its own tuition. The state gov't controls that.

[jpspear]

UL cannot raise its own tuition. The state gov't controls that.

And if they raise tuition TOPS costs increase. The only thing they can do is raise fees.

I'm an '81 graduate with a son who's a Freshman at UL. I lived in Voorhies, which was passable. The dorm situation now is deplorable. My kid is in Legacy because I was embarrassed to put him in the Conference Center or Stokes. I also don't know why they're building more apartments. We really need some decent, higher-density dorms.

[CajunAmos]

The new design for most colleges around the country are the triplex and quads, with private bedrooms and baths with amenities, and common kitchen and living areas. Is this not something that would work on campus?

[cjr3888]

I graduated in December 06. When I voted to raise student fees, whenever that was, I knew the projects would never have a chance of being finished before I left. I still voted yes for the future of the University, paid my fees, and hopefully will get to check it all out when it finally is completed.

[Shammy]

Kal remember that most of the fees that where raised early on were used to start the Intramurals fields that are not finished and are only used for a five week period out of the year.

[Kal]

_ Kal remember that most of the fees that where raised early on were used to start the Intramurals fields that are not finished and are only used for a five week period out of the year. _

You are correct. And I forgot about that. Those field also aren't completed. The land was leveld, seeded, and fencing erected, but no lights were ever put out on the fields nor any other facility for storage or restrooms. They are virtually useless as they are right now.

[RaginCajun77]

I have no problem paying fees for the future of UL. However, their comes a point where our administration grows a set and says we need to raise our tuition. We cannot have our budget capped because of TOPS. I hope Dr. Savoie can use his connections to increase tuition for UL.

UL is in desparate need of renovations to a number of buildings on campus. In this digital age we should have a reliable wireless connection available across campus. We must find a way to move this campus into the future.

Housing on campus is horrid. Legacy Park is a novel idea but is highly overpriced. The dorms are downright bad and need to be renovated or replaced. Last time I checked meal plans were included with the price of a Legacy Park apartment or a dorm. The food in the cafeteria last time I had it was less than impressive. Why force students living in an apartment to buy a meal plan?

[jpspear]

The TOPS problem goes deeper than that, because UL won't go in for a tuitions raise by themselves. All the schools will line up and their legislators won't do anything to help UL unless their local 4-year is on the gravy train. For which, honestly, I can't blame them. The only school with the clout to get their way even if it means screwing the rest of the state schools is our glorious flagship.

What would we do without their inspiring leadership?

[RaginFan2]

The TOPS problem goes deeper than that, because UL won't go in for a tuitions raise by themselves. All the schools will line up and their legislators won't do anything to help UL unless their local 4-year is on the gravy train. For which, honestly, I can't blame them. The only school with the clout to get their way even if it means screwing the rest of the state schools is our glorious flagship.

What would we do without their inspiring leadership?

I dunno... prosper?