Louisiana Needs More Two-year College Grads, State Labor Official Says

by Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press Writer , September 30, 2009

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Louisiana labor official tells state commission that two-year degree graduates are needed to fill critical jobs in the state. Pictured is the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge.

“It's like telling a rich man he has too much money. Can you ever have too many four-year degrees?” said Artis Terrell, chairman of the Louisiana Board of Regents.

For example, Terrell said Shaw Group Inc. founder and CEO Jim Bernhard recently told state officials he chose to locate an engineering office in Charlotte, N.C., a few years ago because of a shortage of engineers in Louisiana.

The Postsecondary Education Review Commission is charged with recommending efficiencies, cost-cutting moves and ways to restructure the state's four public college systems amid years of projected budget shortfalls and shrinking state funding for higher education.

Any commission recommendations would have to be enacted by the Board of Regents, which oversees public colleges in Louisiana, and the state Legislature before they could take effect. The panel's report is due by Feb. 12.

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