BATON ROUGE La. – Gov. Bobby Jindal’s push for state lawmakers to give up their authority over public college tuition increases, if the schools improve their performance, cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday.
But the bill’s sponsor acknowledges that the road to final legislative passage will be tough. It would require support from two-thirds of the House and Senate to reach Jindal’s desk.
The measure, called the Louisiana GRAD Act, would let schools substantially raise what they charge their students if the colleges meet certain performance standards, including improved graduation rates and better job skills preparation.
“I really believe we will be doing something historic if this bill makes it through the entire process,” said House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, sponsor of the proposal.
“It’s something where the taxpayers and citizens of this state desire greater accountability, greater performance out of our systems, and it’s absolutely going to produce that over time,” he said.
The House Education Committee approved the bill Thursday without objection, but that is expected to be the last easy step for the proposal. It heads next to the House’s budget committee, where it is expected to face a rougher hearing from lawmakers who have complained repeatedly about the performance of state colleges and universities.
Under the bill, colleges would have to increase admission standards, improve graduation rates, eliminate programs with few graduates, and improve their efforts in getting students into jobs. Remedial classes would disappear at four-year schools, along with most associate degree programs, in an effort to steer students seeking those courses to less expensive community colleges. Online courses would have to be expanded.
