Louisiana universities to be funded according to merit

Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Updated: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 16:04

As the ongoing Louisiana legislative session continues, the Senate Education Committee has approved Senate Bill 117.

The bill calls for the formation of a 15-member task force, which would create a funding system based on the performance of a particular university. Accordingly, the Board of Regents would approve the funding plan under the senate bill, a major change from current law that keeps higher education in the hands of legislators.

“The big thing that Senate Bill 117 does is that it takes control over higher education out of the hands of the legislators and gives it to the Board of Regents,” said Dr. Ronald Traylor, history and political science professor. “Louisiana, I think, is the only state of the fifty where the legislator still makes those higher education decisions like that. The other states, much more sane, have said to higher education administrators ‘This is your area of expertise.’”

University performance levels would be based on student retention rates, timely progression toward degree completion, certificate and degree production, alignment with projected workforce needs and potential earning power of graduates.

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