The University of New Orleans sign sits in front of the University Center on Dec. 15, 2022. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans announced cuts totaling 15% of its budget before classes started this month, but the state’s impending fiscal crisis could spell more trouble for the school.
The immediate spending cuts at UNO were in response to nearly two decades of declining enrollment and were made to “rightsize” the school’s budget, university President Kathy Johnson told the Illuminator . The reductions are not part of the $250 million in cuts colleges and universities across the state have been asked to prepare for.
“My focus has been on the immediate concern,” Johnson said. “We are doing our due diligence and planning as the system asks us to plan.”
Lawmakers are expected to allow a temporary 0.45% sales tax to expire next year, which will lead to a revenue loss for the state of between $338.9 million and $558.8 million , state budget officials have predicted.
Because of this expected shortfall, Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration has asked higher education leaders to prepare for around $250 million in cuts. Higher education and health care are the only two large portions of the budget that aren’t protected under the Louisiana Constitution or state law, meaning they are the first to get axed when necessary.
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UNO, one of two public universities in New Orleans alongside the historically Black Southern University of New Orleans, never saw its enrollment recover after the failure of federal levees after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. The school had an enrollment of around 17,000 before Katrina, with an immediate drop to around 6,000 in the immediate aftermath. For the fall 2023 semester, its enrollment was 6,601.
“[What’s happening at UNO is] what probably should have been done over the course of the last, you know, 20 years,” University of Louisiana System President Rick Gallot said in an interview. UNO is one of nine schools in the UL System.
A variety of factors have led to the New Orleans school’s decline.
UNO’s student retention rate has lagged behind its peers. Johnson said UNO’s retention rate is around 70%. LSU’s, for comparison, is around 84%.
LSU’s shift to test-optional admissions, which allowed more students to seek enrollment at the flagship, lured away enrollment that might have otherwise gone to other state schools
Issues with the rollout of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) also did not help the issue, Johnson said.
These issues are not unique to UNO. Across the nation, the number of high school graduates choosing to attend college has declined, with the possibility of another enrollment cliff on the horizon.
Making matters worse is Louisiana’s shrinking population and its declining birth rate .
According to Carleton College professor Nathan Grawe, who researches demographics, Louisiana is projected to experience a 7.5% to 15% decline in college-going students by 2029 .
For faculty, UNO’s latest cuts — and the prospect of more — just compounds the pain of a university still reeling from the last round of serious higher education budget bloodletting.
UNO Faculty Senate President Andrea Mosterman said many departments on campus are still recovering from cuts during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, spanning 2008-16.
“Those years were also very stressful,” Mosterman said in an interview.
The Jindal era was a constantly evolving, chaotic period in Louisiana higher education. The state was in a self-inflicted fiscal crisis, with the governor choosing to use single-year surpluses to fund ongoing state government expenses. Higher education was on the chopping block annually to balance the budget.
The worst of the budget crisis, exacerbated by large corporate tax cuts and industry subsidies, happened between 2012-2016.
State aid to higher education was reduced more than 55%, leaving a hole in the budget that had to be mended with increased tuition and fees that climbed at some campuses more than 100% .
Mosterman said UNO faculty are worried about what will happen to the university if another budget crisis happens.
“Having gone through the Jindal years, we know what that means if the governor or the state Legislature is not supportive of higher ed,” Mosterman said. “We know what the consequences might be.”
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