The Strategic Planning and Student Success Division is responsible for coordinating and updating the Board of Regent’s (BoR) Master Plan, including the development of policy, resources, and initiatives to support Master Plan goals. The division also shares responsibility for many statewide and federal reporting requirements, responding to legislative requests and resolutions, and fulfilling data requests from a wide range of stakeholders. The section oversees the registration and licensure of non-academic proprietary schools in Louisiana, as well as statewide workforce and education planning coordinated through the LaSTEM Advisory Council and Cybersecurity Education Management Council.

Master Plan for Higher Education

Article VIII of Louisiana’s Constitution authorizes the Board of Regents (BoR) to develop a master plan for higher education in Louisiana. This Master Plan provides a broad vision for the State’s higher education system and acknowledges its interdependence with the economy and its many contributions towards better lives for Louisiana’s citizenry. The actions outlined in this Plan are guided by the reality that Louisiana must raise the educational attainment of its adult citizens if it is to compete successfully in the 21st century world economy. The Plan also addresses the need to strategically invest in targeted research to sustain and expand the State’s economic development. Finally, increased accountability is a common thread which undergirds every element of this Master Plan.

To move Louisiana aggressively forward, the Board of Regents has embraced a robust new attainment goal that calls for 60% of all working-age adults (ages 25-64) in Louisiana to hold a degree or high-value credential by 2030. As we stand on the brink of a new decade, this Master Plan, born of the Board of Regents’ unique charge to guide postsecondary education across the state, will set the foundation to increase opportunity. Our Talent Imperative is to Educate, Innovate, and Collaborate.

To review the complete Master Plan, click here:

MASTER PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Institution Role, Scope, and Mission Strategic Plan 2020-21 through 2024-25 Data Dashboard – Master Plan

LaCASU

The Louisiana Center Addressing Substance Use in Collegiate Communities (LaCASU) office provides outreach and support to Louisiana’s institutions of higher education to aid in reducing the negative consequences of substance use. Through the Louisiana Higher Education Coalition (LaHEC), a project funded by the Louisiana Department of Health — Office of Behavioral Health (OBH), we facilitate a statewide coalition of over 35 institutions of higher education across Louisiana, including four-year institutions, two-year institutions, community colleges, and technical community colleges.

Learn More about LaCASU and LaHEC

Annual Reports

2022

2021

Legislative Reports and Updates

Councils

Cybersecurity Education Management Council (CEMC)

CEMC

The Cybersecurity Education Management Council is tasked with promoting degree and certificate programs in cybersecurity fields offered by public postsecondary education institutions in order to meet the state’s workforce needs.

LASTEM Advisory Council

LASTEM

LASTEM coordinates and oversees the creation, delivery, and promotion of STEM education programs to increase student interest and achievement in the fields of STEM, to ensure the alignment of education, economic development, industry, and workforce needs, and to increase the number of women who graduate from a postsecondary institution with a STEM degree or credential.

Learn More about LASTEM

Student Success Council

The Student Success Council is established to research, implement, and recommend strategies that will accelerate student success in order to reach the Master Plan goals. A wide range of expertise will be leveraged to implement at scale high-impact, student-centered practices focused on improving postsecondary access and completion.

Consistent with the Council framework introduced to the Board on January 6, 2020, the SSC is convened by Board staff on a regular basis and is charged to help identify trends, obstacles, and solutions that will inform policies and practices to achieve attainment goals. It will evaluate progress toward Master Plan objectives and provide guidance to accelerate attainment/completion. The stated objectives of the Council include identifying barriers to postsecondary credential completion, determining best practices for scale implementation, developing strategies to close equity gaps, and researching and recommending policy solutions to improve service to students.

Learn More about SSC

Health Works Commission

The purpose of the Health Works Commission is to serve as a collaborative working group to integrate and coordinate resources relative to healthcare workforce development within various state departments and key organizations.

Learn More about Commission

Teacher Education Initiatives

Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITAL)

In 1997, the Louisiana Legislature designated that funding be established for a Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITAL) within the Louisiana Board of Regents for the purpose of improving university-based teacher training programs in Louisiana. CITAL’s mission is to improve K-12 teacher preparation and educational leadership programs in all disciplines, consistent with state and national standards, statewide education reform initiatives, and policies of the Board of Regents and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Specific efforts supported by the Board of Regents to help improve the learning of PK-12 students by placing a caring and highly competent teacher and leader in classrooms and schools in Louisiana are the following:

Teacher Recruitment, Recovery, and Retention Task Force

House Concurrent Resolution 39 of the 2021 Regular Legislative Session creates the Teacher Recruitment, Recovery, and Retention Task Force. The legislation requires the Task Force to study the declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs and review strategies that can be utilized by the state and individual school districts in locations of teacher shortages to reverse declines.

Learn More about TRRR

Institutional Licensure

The Board of Regents serves as the authorizing body for post-secondary schools operating in Louisiana that are not part of Louisiana State System Schools. This includes occupational and trade schools, defined as Proprietary Schools and Degree-Granting schools, both those that offer Academic Degrees and Religious Degrees.

Proprietary Schools

Institutional Licensure

SARA

Louisiana became a member of SARA on December 1, 2014. SARA is a national initiative which seeks to establish comparable national standards for the interstate offering of postsecondary distance-education courses and programs. SARA is a voluntary agreement among regional compacts (SREB, NEBHE, MHEC, and WICHE) and member states. Each member state approves their in-state institutions for SARA participation. Institutional membership is voluntary and open to accredited, degree-granting institutions from all sectors of postsecondary education (proprietary, public, private). Once approved, SARA member institutions may offer distance education programs in other SARA member states without additional authorization. For more information on SARA, and for the latest listing of participating states and institutions, visit www.nc-sara.org/directory

PLEASE NOTE: As of January 11, 2021, Initial and Renewal applications have been combined into one document with a check box to select initial or renewal. The link to the updated application is under step #2 below.

For postsecondary institutions located in Louisiana: Accredited, degree-granting institutions located in Louisiana seeking INITIAL SARA membership and RENEWAL SARA membership should do the following:

Review the following document: Louisiana SARA Institutional Application Process and Student Complaint Process
Complete the Application and Approval Form for Institution Participation in SARA
Attach the following documents to the Application for Institutional Approval to Participate in SARA:
1. 1. 1. A copy of the institution’s student complaint process;
    2. documentation explaining the institution’s policies and practices addressing catastrophic events; and
    3. continuity of operations
Enclose a check or money order in the amount of $1,500, made payable to the Louisiana Board of Regents
Submit the above items to:

Louisiana Board of Regents
P.O. Box 3677
Baton Rouge, LA. 70821-3677
Attention: LeAnn Detillier

Applications are reviewed and approved on a rolling basis. Applications will be reviewed and submitted to the Board of Regents for consideration within 60 days of receipt.

If you have questions regarding the SARA institutional application process, please contact LeAnn Detillier at LeAnn. Detillier@laregents.edu.

For SARA-approved postsecondary institutions located outside of Louisiana:

SARA-approved postsecondary institutions listed on the NC-SARA website listing of approved institutions (www.nc-sara.org) may operate within Louisiana without additional authorization unless the institution offers courses or programs which require clinical experiences in the State of Louisiana and such clinical experiences place more than 10 students from each program in Louisiana who are physically present simultaneously at a single facility/site.

SARA Student Complaints

(NOTE: THIS PROCESS IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO SARA STUDENTS)

If you are a student living outside of Louisiana in a state currently participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), and you are enrolled via distance education in a Louisiana college/university that is a current member of SARA, and you are unable to resolve a complaint with the college/university, or feel that not all issues were resolved with the final disposition of the college/university, you may appeal to the Louisiana Board of Regents. To find out whether or not your college/university is SARA-approved and/or the state in which you reside is a SARA state, please visit the National Council for SARA website at www.nc-sara.org. Below are links to the forms you will need to file your formal complaint: