House denies colleges tuition-setting authority (again).

Agreed... This would at least help weed out the institutions that should probably get closed down. I guess the politicians friends are making too much at Suno/grambling and the like for this to receive serious consideration. I wish jindal would use his executive power to close down these shitholes and do some actual good.

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re-structure how TOPS is actually awarded,

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Make it a loan that is forgiven upon graduation. You get a degree, you do not have to pay it back. There can be exceptions for medical issues.

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Make it a loan that is forgiven upon graduation. You get a degree, you do not have to pay it back.

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You honestly think this is a better idea that what we currently have? The state would never get their money back and it would hinder students who are already struggling to afford going to college to better themselves under the fear that they may not finish.

If the state is not going to cap TOPS and let schools change tuition then TOPS needs to move towards the idea of a need based sliding scale based on FASFA information. No reason why the state should pay 100% of tuition for a student whose parents make 150K+. Pay 33% or something. Then as income drops the percentage rises. TOPS is a great program that I benefited from, but as a state and an institution (LSU specifically) we can no longer afford to keep it the way it currently structured.

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Make it a loan that is forgiven upon graduation

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That doesn't really fix the issue at hand. If you graduate, the state is still paying your tuition bill. Currently TOPS states that it will pay tuition for any state school. If you give all these state schools the power to set their own tuition, then you will bankrupt TOPS. They need to restructure TOPS as an amount based award if you want to give the schools the power. As in, if you reach this level of TOPS, you get $3k. Then you'd have 3k towards tuition, but LSU would have the power to make the tuition $6k without bankrupting Louisiana.

He's got a point as much as the other side of the argument does. How many students would stay in school and continue to get a degree only because they don't want to pay back the money? If they stay, they are using more of the state's money. We need people who don't get degrees out in the workforce too.

My office has a similar policy that if you receive any bonuses, you have to pay them back if you leave the company voluntarily within 12 months. People just get fired or file harassment complaints to not pay back the money. People will find a way around the "pay back" rule in my opinion.

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For all the big talk from some of you right-wingnuts screaming about LSU cutting its budget,

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Here is all you need to know about LSU's budget:

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You’ve heard over and over again that LSU’s funding has dropped off the table since 2008, right? That was, of course, the year Louisiana’s state budget was some $30 billion thanks to the massive Katrina recovery bubble, crude oil prices well over $100 a barrel and a strong national economy that would shortly fall into recession. Well, LSU’s 2008-09 budget that year was $425 million.

Guess what LSU’s 2014-15 budget is?

It’s $455 million.

All you’ve heard for the last six years is that LSU has been gutted by the Jindal administration and the governor and his appointees on the BOS ought to hang themselves from the rafters at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for all the damage they’ve done. And yet LSU has $30 million more coming in this year than it had in the fat years.

Now, the state general fund revenue to the school has dropped from $235 million to $108 million, but LSU’s self-generated revenues have gone from $190 million to $347 million.

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LSU is taking in more money than ever before. Time for it to do what everyone else is expected to do...live within your means. Simple as that.

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But also, what about that kid that is trying to break the family cycle of no college grads. Goes to college using TOPS, but still has to work his arse off for living expenses. Can't cut it and has to drop out of school. Maybe he'll come back later. I like that our state gives him the opportunity to give it a try. Can't do that most places. Paying back the money would hurt that demographic and take away from what so many view as great about TOPS.

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At some point, you can't just keep handing money out. That kid would likely qualify for Pell grants or other forms of financial aid to make ends meet. And if he couldn't make the grades to keep TOPS ( a paltry 2.5 last I checked), then that's just too bad. It sounds cruel, but it's unsustainable in it's current form.

Good. It is likely that the only people more greedy and self-serving than legislators are university administrators. They measure their success and status in dollars spent.

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tigerinthebueche

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By God have an upvote.

This fear mongering coming from the LSU administration is bordering on the ridiculous level. Like you said the bottom line is they don't want to strap their boots up and get a little tighter.