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Louisiana has enjoyed repeated state surpluses for the last seven years, and the latest calculations estimate lawmakers will see that trend continue another year. A surplus occurs when a state’s revenue collections exceed its spending within a budget year.
The number of students receiving free college tuition through Louisiana’s TOPS program has dropped for the third consecutive year, most likely an effect of declining college enrollment. Part 3 of a three-part series looking at public K-12 education and higher education in Louisiana.
The rate of Louisiana high school seniors applying for college financial aid fell over the last year, fueling worries about the state’s shrinking higher education-bound population. Part 2 of a three-part series looking at public K-12 education and higher education in Louisiana.
With the start of the new school year, students are returning to emptier classrooms as the total enrollment in Louisiana’s public schools declines to its lowest level in 16 years. Part 1 of a three-part series looking at public K-12 education and higher education in Louisiana.
Nearly one in five people in Louisiana, about 867,000 low-income residents on average each month, received financial food aid across the last year through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to the latest data available from the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services.
Mental illnesses and other mental health problems have worsened in Louisiana and across the nation in recent years, according to federal data tracking the issue. COVID-19 only compounded the problem, causing social isolation, anxiety and financial hardship.
With the end of Gov. John Bel Edwards’s second term, Louisiana voters head back to the polls Saturday for a gubernatorial primary that is expected to see lower turnout than some of the state’s prior governor’s elections over the last 20 years.