Jindal To Push Tuition Increases At Colleges

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal is asking lawmakers to boost college tuition and fee costs for students and to give schools more freedom from regulations governing purchasing and construction projects.

Jindal also again will push the Legislature to merge Louisiana's five college management boards into one, after a similar measure failed last year.

The governor announced his legislative proposals Monday to members of the higher edu

cation boards and their system presidents, who were meeting at a Trusteeship Conference to talk about common issues and problems.

More than $300 million in state funding has been stripped from colleges in the last two years and deep cuts are on the horizon. Jindal couldn't say how much money his proposals would raise, except to say it would be "tens of millions of dollars."