re: Trimming the Fat in Louisiana Higher Education (Aside from SUNO)

Im not sure what it should be but i know mcneese cost less per student, has a better grad rate, higher average starting salary and serves its area better thatn selu, nich.,NW and ulm and 78 is alot further than those schools are from the next 4 year university.
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I checked the highway mileage between the 4 schools you mentioned and the closest 4 year University (or universities, if there are two nearby):
SLU is 47 miles from LSU and 62 miles from UNO.
NIcholls is 63 miles from UNO and ~70 from LSU (depending on the route you take).
Northwestern is 76 miles from LA Tech.
UL-M is 37 miles from Tech.

Perhaps population density should also factor into this equation. Without reviewing census data, I'd guess about 35%, or maybe even 40%, of the state's population lives in the parishes east of the Mississippi River. Maybe there's a need for LSU, UNO and SLU.




Mcneese should not be immune from cuts, what i am saying is lets look at it objectively not rush and say ull is in swla so close mcneese. First ull is in central south la, second 78 miles is much further than many other schools and 3rd mcneese is a better school by pretty much every measurable metric.
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I don't really know anything about McNeese other than they typically have a good football team. However, based on your McNeese to UL-L comparison and the distance from Lafayette to Baton Rouge, maybe we need to close UL-L.




In the end its should be based on cost per student to the state and performance of the school, everything else is second to those.
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I agree with you on this, but some of those secondary considerations are also very important. Is Lake Charles is a better position to absorb the economic impact of a university closing than a place like Natchitoches, Thidodaux, Monroe or Hammond?

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I agree with you on this, but some of those secondary considerations are also very important. Is Lake Charles is a better position to absorb the economic impact of a university closing than a place like Natchitoches, Thidodaux, Monroe or Hammond?

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100% they are in a better position. Honestly they are in a better position to absorb the cuts better than anywhere other than NOLA. The problem is that McNeese serves a much better industry(petrochem) then those other schools. And that industry depends on McNeese to provide man power. Could it be provided by ULL? Sure but not as well.

And economic impact to the area should be one of the last considerations imo. It should be based on performance and cost to the state.

Calcasieu is the is the 7th largest parish in the state and will be the fastest growing area population wise and economically over the next 5 years.

Sure most of the population resides in EBR East and thats why you would have LSU and UNO two of the largest schools in the state. Honestly I am fine with SELU staying open as its a decent school but its not a better school McNeese by every measurable stat and its not nearly as important to local industry.

But it would devastate that area economically if it closed.

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Is Lake Charles is a better position to absorb the economic impact of a university closing than a place like Natchitoches, Thidodaux, Monroe or Hammond?

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that makes no sense. if that were true, UNO would be first, LSU 2nd, and ULL 3rd on the chopping block

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Actually, I don't think I am.

Is a 35% graduation rate (based on whatever year these stats are from) really that significantly different than a 29 or 30% rate? If 5 or 6 points is that meaningful, McNeese should be worried about UL-L being in the low 40s.

I know Lake Charles is booming with new industrial construction, but is it that much more populous than Monroe? I'm sure it's not as populated as Southeast LA.

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Like i said Calc parish is has a lot more people and ULM has a better 4 year school less than 40 miles away.

And ULL is a better school overall than McNeese, why should they be worried about ULL? Both schools should remain open.

The 4 big areas along I-10 should have a school and so should North LA. Plus HBCU southern and grambling.

State needs to force the schools to get to 40% grad rate within 6 years, 50 within 10. You fail, you are put on probation and eventually closed if you continue to fail.

You forgot about scholarships and grants. Don't have to meet TOPS standards to get those

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I'm not lobbying for the closure of McNeese, but as far as economic impact on the community goes, they seem (to me) to more capable of absorbing the hit.

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and it's just a stupid variable

of course bigger cities will be able to absorb losses more easily. that's why they're bigger

it's more efficient to pool resources in larger areas, especially since they're already read to act as population centers

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I don't know WTF is in Natchitoches aside from their Christmas on Cane River celebration and that Steel Magnolias was filmed there about 30 years ago.

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Natchitoches has some tourism, but Northwestern is nearly its sole economic engine. There's some agriculture in Natchitoches parish, but driving around, I don't see many service and supply businesses related to that. Without NSU, Natchitoches would be Coushatta with a nicer downtown and some historic old homes.

So I was wrong on the SELU vs McNeese cost per student/grad and after looking at these numbers its clear both schools should stay open.

Bump for the night crew