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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tuition won't be rising at Southern University in Baton Rouge, its law center or Southern University at Shreveport this fall because those schools didn't meet "student success" requirements that are part of the GRAD Act.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1wylxiG ) the Louisiana Board of Regents accepted the results Wednesday of the annual review required by the Granting Resources and Autonomy for Resources for Diplomas Act, which gives schools the ability to raise tuition if they meet certain performance measures.
Last year, all of the colleges and universities met the performance requirements, but Southern didn't perform well enough to meet the demands for three of the system's schools this year.
Board of Regents Chairman Bubba Rasberry said he hopes that the Southern University System Board of Supervisors will work with the Regents staff "to develop a plan to strengthen performance even during these times of financial distress."
"I'm hopeful that the three institutions can begin to improve their performance," he said.
The Southern University Law Center appealed for the ability to increase tuition during the Regents' meeting but the appeal failed.
Chancellor Freddie Pitcher Jr. said the law school's budget will be adversely affected.
"We thought we had passed it," he said of the GRAD Act's requirements.
He said that the school gives many underprivileged students an opportunity to become lawyers but is "penalized by having this kind of mission."
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
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