The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has laid out its plan on how it will address a $25 million structural deficit. Interim President Jaimie Hebert says the school has implemented 10% operational spending cuts and a 5% cut to academic affairs.
“Some are reducing travel, some of them are cutting direct operational expenditures. There are a few areas that are eliminating some offices on campus,” Hebert said.
Hebert says there will be a handful of layoffs. He says they will also adjust building temperatures and make changes to the campus shuttle bus system. He says there will be several other cost-saving measures.
“We’re reviewing a lot of contracts we’ve had over time, looking at a lot of our scholarship strategies, trying to get them more aligned with our current revenue streams,” Hebert explained.
The deficit is the result of a decline in enrollment of full-time undergraduates since 2015. During that time, the school has seen an increase in online and graduate programs, but that brings in less revenue. Hebert says the goal with these cost-cutting initiatives is not to diminish the student learning experience, and they believe they can achieve that.
“We know that it’s having some impact on our faculty, but we want to minimize the impact on our faculty’s ability to teach and to conduct research,” Hebert said.
Hebert says they hope to reach fiscal stability by May 2026.
