Louisiana's public colleges are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst as they face a drop in state funding of up to 82 percent, NBCNews.com reported on Friday. As the state legislature fails to make headway covering a $608 million shortfall in higher education spending, its public colleges are bracing for the prospect of budget cuts so deep some institutions — including the state's biggest public flagship — might have to declare financial exigency. That's college funding-speak for something akin to bankruptcy. The potential threat to Louisiana's public colleges is unprecedented, said Jordan Kurland, associate general secretary of the National American Association of University Professors. Under financial exigency, a bankruptcy-like status that gives institutions a legal pathway to change contracts or other financial obligations, schools would have more freedom to lay off tenured professors or eliminate programs and departments. "We need to have every tool at our disposal to survive," said F. King Alexander, president and chancellor of the Louisiana State University system, who added that the school still hoped to avoid exigency. "We're optimistic that we can get through this, but as managers of the institution, we've got to play out every scenario," he said.
