Eat Less Learn More: Louisiana should consolidate its college systems

Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut and New Jersey all have two things in common.

First, none of them have a college football program ranked in the top 25. Second, 33 percent or more of each state's population 25 years or older have a bachelor's degree as of 2006. These states are, respectively, the top 5 in the nation for this statistic.

The statistics could be affected by college graduates who move into or out of the states, but they are still reflective of the knowledge possessed by large portions of the states' populations.

College degrees are becoming more and more important in this day and age. After all, knowledge is power, right?

I would make a joke about where you think Louisiana might fall in these rankings, but everyone knows our state has a well-deserved terrible reputation when it comes to education. The great state of Louisiana places 45th on this list. Surprising, right? I expected 50th, too, but we can't forget Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas or West Virginia.

What's my point? Louisiana needs a drastic change. Why? If Louisiana wants to compete with states like Massachusetts, its universities need to produce more and better  college graduates, according to the National Governors' Associations' Center for Best Practices.

I'm assuming the majority of the population doesn't want to be poor or dumb.

In working on improving anything, one commonly uses a successful example as a model.
In this practice, Louisiana fails with a passion.

These top states have one, uno, un, eins, state university or college system. Louisiana has three: the University of Louisiana, Louisiana State University and Southern University Systems.

In August, State Treasurer John Kennedy recommended to the Commission on Streamlining Government the state eliminate all three systems and defer jurisdiction of the systems to the Louisiana Board of Regents. A bunch of bureaucratic discussion ensued, and the Chair of the commission deemed the recommendation inappropriate to the focus of the commission. He said the Postsecondary Education Review Commission (PERC) already exists, and the move would be under its scope for examination.

The minutes of the PERC sessions following the treasurer's recommendation have not yet been released, but the agendas for the meetings are available. It mentions discussion of recommendations, but the press release from the session indicates no progress of the concept.

I can only speculate about why politicians want to maintain the administrative nightmare that is Louisiana's three higher education systems.

It could be Louisiana is full of cultures "steeped in tradition," and the universities around the state represent the inability of their "old, traditional" communities to change.

Maybe it's just because Louisiana is "slow" when it comes to progress. We've all seen what happens to the "slow" gazelles on Animal Planet — cheetah snacks.

It could be possible the ugly race monster has reared its head because one of the systems is composed of historically black colleges and universities.

I'd like to think race plays the role in 2009 equivalent to that of Paris Hilton in life, but I know better than to be so naïve.

Consolidating the school systems would enable the Board of Regents to raise the standards of lacking Louisiana universities. The schools that can't meet the standards would lose state funding which would provide spare money to spread around to the thriving universities.

Congress needs to put higher education on the forefront of its discussions, not pass it around between different committees and commissions, or Louisiana will remain in the lower ranks of any of statistic worth mentioning.

Louisianians need to get smart if they want an economically competitive state. The first step is consolidation, so contact your representatives and "recommend" it.


Matthew Lousteau is a 20-year-old mechanical engineering junior from LaPlace. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mlousteau.

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Contact Matthew Lousteau at mlousteau@lsureveille.com