Some Louisiana officials and higher education leaders say it’s time to reevaluate: Is that simply too many colleges, at least in their current form, for a state of approximately 4.6 million people?
“If you look at those metrics per pupil, it’s hard,” LSU System President Wade Rousse said at a press conference in February. “It’s hard to understand how it all works and how it’s sustainable.”
As the purpose and return on investment of higher education faces scrutiny on the federal and state level, Louisiana legislators have debated what to do with the state’s sprawling system of postsecondary options. And that debate could play a role in the upcoming legislative session that starts Monday.
“As someone born and raised in Louisiana, I can tell you we’ve been struggling in these areas for a long time,” Rep. John Wyble, R-Franklinton, said. “I think we’re slowly moving more and more toward a coordinated effort in terms of programs of study, what we offer.”
The question becomes all the more salient as some of those schools struggle with enrollment stagnation and decline, as well as budget challenges that go back to historic cuts to state higher education funding under former Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s enrollment, for example, dipped to approximately 12,200 undergraduate students in the 2022 fall semester, a decrease of over 1,000 students from three years prior. Enrollment has trended modestly upward since then, with 12,600 undergraduates enrolled in the 2024 fall semester.
In a town hall in December, UL President Ramesh Kolluru said the university maintained a $10.5-million deficit, down from previously $25 million.
“There’s no system or school in our state that’s not faced with this,” University of Louisiana System President Rick Gallot said about the system’s funding. “Obviously, some have been in a better position to absorb it and address it than others, but generally, we all face the same main challenge, and that is the amount of state resources being allocated to our schools. It’s simply putting us further and further behind our southern peers.”
Those working to solve the state’s small public universities’ budgetary and enrollment woes often point to two paths forward for a school in crisis: absorption into another system, currently underway with the University of New Orleans migrating from the UL System to the LSU System, or specialization, which involves scaling back programs that fail to align with industry needs and bolstering more workforce-oriented majors.
“I do think that specialization will be the order of the day,” Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said. “The institutions will not be able to be all things for all people.”
THE ROUTE OF UNO
It's been a year since Senate President Cameron Henry and House Speaker Philip Devillier first proposed making the University of New Orleans part of the LSU System, a move supporters thought could breathe new life into the beleaguered New Orleans research institution and save it from a financial crisis that stemmed from more than a decade of low enrollment.
Though the university won’t officially transition to LSU until July 1, plans have been made and some changes are already in progress. A transition committee led by LSU Board of Supervisors member Rico Alvendia, with more than 20 executive members representing a slew of New Orleans industries and both universities, met publicly twice at UNO to discuss aspects of the transition, from facility use to academic focuses.
“I think everything is going as smoothly as it possibly can,” UNO President Kathy Johnson said this week, thanking faculty and staff for their “willingness to focus on adapting to the role that LSU New Orleans must play in the future to best fulfill our mission.”
“It always is challenging to disrupt the status quo,” she added, “and of course we have had to do that with very limited resources.”
This time last year, UNO was completing a major restructuring, consolidating its colleges and laying off a handful of high-ranking administrators. It also slashed the adjunct professor ranks, closed some campus buildings in disrepair and implemented a spending and hiring freeze. Johnson said those measures have allowed the university to operate with a balanced budget this year.
The university also took logistical steps like renegotiating contracts, collecting money owed from vendors and identifying overbilling. It is also working to enroll students who were declined from the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, but meet UNO’s admissions standards, to boost enrollment.
Rousse has said he plans to request funding from state legislators this session to aid with the transition. Last year, legislators allocated $23 million to help UNO pay off longstanding debt.
Johnson said she wasn’t sure how much would be requested, but said she hopes the state would cover unbudgeted transition costs for expenses associated with things such as branding and signage. She said the university would use existing funding to pay for an IT overhaul estimated to cost $46 million and $355 million in deferred maintenance.
But much of the transition — and how it will impact UNO students and staff — is still unclear. Though Rousse and other officials have hinted at “tough decisions” that may be necessary to align, the university has not publicly discussed which UNO programs could be cut.
Still Johnson said she remains “incredibly hopeful regarding our future.”
“We have turned the corner — our budget is realigned and we are about to be part of one of the strongest public higher education systems in the country,” Johnson said. “We must do whatever we can to capitalize on this moment and charge ahead to meet the needs of our students and our community.”
At the press conference in February, Rousse said UNO could serve as a model for how to shape the future of higher education in Louisiana.
“How we reimagine educating Louisiana is probably going to be led from what we do at the University of New Orleans,” Rousse said. “I think that’s going to be sort of a strong line, really focused curriculum that can be successful. A big positive public research university in the New Orleans area is probably a good thing, but money does not grow on trees, and enrollment is very, very competitive.”
“You have got to offer value,” he said. “You have to have an ROI on that investment for kids to come.”
ONGOING SHIFT TOWARD INDUSTRY
Some argue UNO should serve as the exception rather than the rule for how to envision the next chapter of Louisiana’s postsecondary landscape.
Reed predicted more schools will go the route of specialization, with a focus on the demands of the job market in each region.
“I do not see an appetite for the Legislature to continue to move institutions from one system to another as the silver bullet,” Reed said.
Wyble, who filed a bill ahead of the 2026 Regular Session that would prohibit the use of state funds toward low-earning programs of study, said colleges will need to be responsive to the labor demand driven by economic development projects in the state.
“I think it’s going to be incumbent upon them and all of those institutions to really take a hard look at our job market, our economy, where we’re projecting to be, and then how do we produce those graduates that can help fill those jobs that are in demand,” Wyble said.
As the 2026 regular session begins, Gallot said part of UL’s approach will also be apprising legislators of the industry-aligned programs currently offered by the university system, including cybersecurity and pharmaceuticals.
“If you look at what we’re doing, those specializations exist already,” Gallot said. “It’s really our job to make sure that we educate our legislators about the things that we’re already doing.”
Louisiana Board of Regents chair Misti Cordell said the state’s public institutions must continue an ongoing process of fiscal belt-tightening, but the answer to strained finances and enrollment challenges does not necessarily lie in shrinking the number of institutions.
Those schools often serve as cornerstones of their regional economies, she said.
“On the surface it may look like we have a lot of colleges in the state of Louisiana, but we need to look at how they function in the region,” Cordell said. “They’re regionally relevant.”
© 2026 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
