Students to pay more to attend Southern University System

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Southern University System students in Louisiana will pay hundreds of dollars more a semester in the upcoming school year, to generate $4.2 million for campuses, under a package of fee hikes approved by the system governing board Thursday.

Fee increases on students are rankling lawmakers, who protected Louisiana's colleges from budget cuts for the 2018-19 school year by renewing part of an expiring sales tax last month. The LSU System Board of Supervisors also voted last week to boost its student fees, to raise more than $14 million.

Baton Rouge Rep. Ted James, a Democrat and Southern University graduate, said lawmakers who supported the tax didn't expect universities to still raise costs on students.