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LSU received money for the planning of a new library in the state construction budget, one of dozens of investments in campus infrastructure made this year. Photo courtesy Julie O’Donoghue/Louisiana Illuminator.
After years of belt-tightening, Louisiana’s institutions of higher education are finally taking home some bacon amid the state’s budget boon, with major investments in higher education spread across the state’s budget plan.
The spending package, passed June 8 in the chaotic final moments of the regular legislative session, includes faculty pay raises of approximately 2%, massive infrastructure investments and research funds.
Each state university system had its own victories, with campuses in each region of the state bringing in at least a little extra cash.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed just one of the three bills that include money for state schools, but it is unlikely he will target higher education with his line-item vetoes.
Here’s what to expect for higher education in the budget bills.
Building boom
The state construction budget, detailed in House Bill 2, details how state construction money is prioritized. Its author, Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, provided major allocations for each system, including an investment in the planning process for a new LSU Library.
But it was the University of Louisiana System that came out on top, bringing home nearly $200 million in immediate state funds for construction — considerably more than the $130 million set aside for the LSU System and the $60 million for the Southern University System.
The largest investment for the UL System is the replacement of Northwestern State University’s primary academic building. The state is sending over $35 million to Natchitoches as the school begins construction.
LSU was not neglected either. In addition to funding for the planning of a new library — more money will be delivered when construction is underway — the school will receive over $7 million to put toward its over $630 million deferred maintenance backlog and major investments for new construction at campuses across the system. New projects funded include the Center for Medical Education and Wellness at LSU Health Shreveport, which will receive $26 million, and the Student Success Center at LSU Alexandria, which will receive $8 million.
Also funded are expansions and repairs to LSU Veterinary School facilities, which is looking to increase its enrollment to address the veterinary shortage in Louisiana. Repairs to the Renewable Natural Resources building, which has faced ongoing infrastructure problems since Hurricane Gustav caused millions in damage to the campus in 2008, are also included in the budget.
The Southern University System is slated to receive $1 million for an ongoing project to address erosion to the campus along the Mississippi River.
Also included in the construction plan is $15 million for a new STEM complex at Southern’s main campus and $5 million for renovations to its law school library.
The Louisiana Community and Technical College System is slated to receive approximately $45 million in funding from the state construction budget this year, with millions put aside to expand and develop existing campuses as its schools court nontraditional students.
The bill includes projects that received lower priority funding, meaning they will not receive money this year, but it does not mean that the projects won’t ever happen. Capital outlay is a multi-year process that usually starts with a small investment for planning purposes, then a large influx of funding when construction is actually underway. It is uncommon for legislators to disrupt a project’s funding once it is underway.
Extra cash
In addition to the primary appropriations made to each university for operations, each system is slated to receive a little extra cash for special projects, research and campus improvements.
With over $46 million in pork in the primary and supplemental budget bills, which appropriates surplus funds that must be spent by the end of the current fiscal year, LSU scored major victories for athletics and academics.
The university will receive $8 million to raise the minimum wage of its Ph. D.-seeking graduate assistants to $23,000 per year, the highest minimum stipend across all Southeastern Conference schools, according to LSU Provost Roy Haggerty. Another $5 million was provided for athletics facilities planning and the AgCenter is slated to receive $11 million for new research equipment.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which was designated in 2021 as a top-level research institution — joining just 3% of the nation’s universities — is slated to take home $10 million for research projects in key areas, although system officials were not immediately able to detail what research would be funded.
The UL System is also slated to take home money for graduate assistants, though it will receive just $1.6 million and has no immediate plans on how to spend it.
Southern University will receive $250,000 for new uniforms for its famous Human Jukebox marching band, $400,000 for graduate assistantships and several million for additional operating costs.
The Louisiana Community and Technical College System fared the worst among the four systems in extra spending. Its 12 schools are slated to receive just over $3 million, including $800,000 for the athletic complex at Delgado Community College.
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