BATON ROUGE, La. – Leadership from each of the state’s four public postsecondary systems shared their institutional FY 2025-2026 budgetary plans during Tuesday’s Higher Education Budget Hearings.
As part of its FY 2025-2026 budget process, Regents welcomed the system presidents and their chief financial officers to present how they plan to utilize this year’s appropriated funds and outline planned efficiencies and continuing needs of colleges and universities as they provide education and training to more than 200,000 students in Louisiana.
In addition to discussing their priorities for the current academic year, system leadership noted their fiscal assessments, accomplishments, and challenges, and ways in which their current-year budgets align with the statewide Master Plan for Higher Education. Public higher education system budget presentations highlighted:
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- Efficiencies and overall fiscal health
- Priorities and current actions for FY 2025-2026
- FY 2026-2027 needs and potential federal funding impacts
- Campus enrollment updates
- Cross-system collaboration and innovation
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“Tuesday’s Budget Hearings were an important step in understanding the fiscal realities of our institutions and how to plan for the financial realities with which we have been presented,” said Finance Chair Blake David. “The potential federal funding impacts on higher education are not limited to Louisiana, so it is crucial that our institutions have contingency plans in place as we all navigate this fiscal uncertainty.”
During Tuesday’s annual Higher Education Budget Hearings, Economist Greg Albrecht and Commissioner of Administration Taylor Barras updated the Board of Regents on the state’s fiscal forecast. Albrecht shared that Louisiana’s economy is flattening out, while Commissioner Barras told Board members to prepare for a standstill budget in FY27 with some possible priority adjustments and increases.
“We’re projecting a dip in state revenue over the next 2-3 years, and our current five-year forecast does show a negative projection,” said Commissioner Barras. “However, what I hope we see in future forecasts are small moves in a positive direction. Expenses are hard to predict with inflation, so I ask higher education to prioritize its needs and plan for a standstill budget in FY27.”
Regents will consider approval of the FY26 higher education operating budget during its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 24. That action serves as the final step in the FY26 budget cycle. Regents’ budgetary responsibility is both constitutional and statutory and is specifically granted under Louisiana Revised Statute 39:32.1, which states that budget proposals are subject to approval by both Regents and the individual management boards.
Work on the FY27 budget cycle is underway, with Regents expected to approve next year’s higher education budget request next month for submission to the Division of Administration on November 1 as required by law.
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Contact
Chris Yandle, Ph.D., APR, Associate Commissioner for Strategic Communications
chris.yandle@laregents.edu • 985-373-5845