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LSU System Units Outline $133 Million In Potential Budget Cuts

BATON ROUGE – Jul. 14, 2010 – Wide-ranging spending cuts at LSU System institutions, totaling $133 million, are outlined in a series of prospective budget reductions to be presented to the LSU Board of Supervisors on Friday.

The cutbacks that could eliminate hundreds of jobs, slash financial aid, and end some scholarships as well as do away with academic courses and research programs are part of a system wide budget-cutting exercise requested by LSU System President Dr. John V. Lombardi.

LSU campus leaders are expected lay out how they plan to trim an estimated 23 percent from their individual budgets for the next fiscal year when federal stimulus money is set to run out. 

Presentations are scheduled to begin at a 9:30 a.m. in the Board Meeting Room, 3810 West Lakeshore Drive, Baton Rouge. No action on the potential cuts is planned.  The board’s regular July meeting will follow. 

Copies of campus-by-campus spending reductions submitted by each institution are available on the LSU System website here.
Louisiana higher education expects a loss of $289 million in federal stimulus money next year.  Unless stimulus dollars are replaced with other revenues, the LSU System will face the full $133 million in cuts or about 46 percent of the money to be trimmed from all state colleges and universities. 

Taxpayer funds make up 21 percent---approximately $508 million--- of the LSU System’s current operating budget of more than $2.4 billion, including hospitals and health care.

Contact:
Charles Zewe, PhD, LSU System Vice President for Communication, 225-578-3942 (office), or, 504-251-5400 (cell), czewe@lsu.edu.

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