BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's community and technical college system is consolidating some of its campuses after years of shrinking state spending on higher education.
The system's governing board approved the mergers Wednesday, along with other restructuring plans. System President Monty Sullivan says the moves are aimed at maintaining access in rural areas, coordinating with workforce needs around the state and responding to financial changes that have the campuses relying more on student tuition and fees than state money.
Eight campuses will be shifted to control of other colleges on July 1. For example, the Reserve campus of South Central Louisiana Technical College will become part of River Parishes Community College.
No campuses will close. Sullivan says he expects some administrative jobs to be cut, but doesn't expect "major layoffs" because of the changes.