Louisiana education faces budget cuts. Here’s how the ‘fiscal cliff’ happened in the state

The budget for Louisiana education is facing up to $250 million in possible cuts for the 2025-2026 school year in order to make up for the state government’s deficit.

These budget cuts will potentially affect both preschool education and higher education institutions.

While legislation has trepidations when it comes to refusing money to preschools, it is possible that preschools will not be immune to budget cuts.

Louisiana education system faces possible budget cuts for the 2025-2026 school year

According to Invest in Louisiana, these budget cuts are a result of the “fiscal cliff” Louisiana is said to face in 2025, which will be when $650 million in tax revenue is anticipated to roll off the books.

State legislature created the fiscal cliff, however, it can avoid the budget cuts by renewing, or replacing, the tax revenue, says Invest in Louisiana.

According to the Louisiana Board of Regents, in light of the $0.45 sales tax ending in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the Board of Regents was tasked to create a plan for higher education institutions to accommodate a $250 million reduction.

What does this mean for Louisiana universities?

The Louisiana Board of Regents presented a higher education budget in Sept. 2024. Highlights from the presentation include discussions surrounding the increase in the total cost of operations, updates on campus enrollment, financial outlook priorities and concerns about the impact of budget cuts.

In addition to this, budget cuts within higher education institutions would result in program reductions, faculty layoffs, increased staff workload, as well as the reduction of scholarship funds.

Potentially $50.4 million, or 20.3%, will be reduced from scholarships including TOPS, Go Grants, RCP, the Patriot Scholarship and GO Youth ChalleNGe.