On Morning Joe, Jindal Shows He’s Clueless About Devastating Cuts to Higher Education

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal continued to court Beltway elites with his appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, but he demonstrated just how out of touch he’s become when he claimed a year at Louisiana State University costs less than $10,000 — it actually costs more than $20,000 for an undergrad.

“Perhaps Governor Jindal should spend more time here in Louisiana, focused on the budget crisis he’s created and the crippling cuts facing our colleges and universities, rather than rubbing elbows with D.C. media folks,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “Tuition has nearly doubled since Jindal took office, and those tuition hikes are essentially tax increases on the working families of this state. Jindal showed just how out of touch he’s become when he wrongly claimed it costs less than $10,000 a year to send your child to LSU. The real price tag is more like $20,000 a year, but Jindal is simply clueless when it comes to how his failed policies are hurting Louisiana families.”

Today Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and Jindal discussed cuts to LSU:

SCARBOROUGH: “Are you going to cut funding for LSU and is it going to cost 90 percent  more for people to go to LSU?”

JINDAL: “Look I don’t know where the 90 percent, I haven’t seen the 90 percent number. We have the second lowest tuition in the south. One of the lowest tuition rates in the entire country in Louisiana.”

SCARBOROUGH: “What is the tuition for LSU for a year undergrad?”

JINDAL: “I mean I think it, look I don’t, it’s under, it’s certainly well under $10,000 when you look at fees, housing. It’s cheaper than other schools in the south, in the SEC.”

For an in-state, undergraduate student, LSU estimates the yearly cost of attendance is $20,564 ($8,758 in tuition & fees, $6,120 in housing, $4,186 in a meal plan and $1,500 for books and supplies).

A recent Politico profile of Jindal’s irresponsible budget practices noted that “Jindal’s cuts to the public colleges and universities have been the deepest of any state over the past eight years… Tuition at the public institutions will be 90 percent higher in 2015 than when Jindal took office.”

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