The Establishment of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System
In recent years Louisiana has gone through a massive change in how higher education in the state is viewed and how it is governed.  During the late 1980s, and early 1990s, higher education took disproportionate cuts in funding due to loss of state revenue from the "oil bust." There was a growing awareness of the need to manage higher education more effectively. In the 1990s, three different governors had tried to develop a single board for higher education.

In 1996, Governor Foster attempted to create a single board for higher education through a constitutional amendment. When that effort failed, he put together a group to develop a strategy. That group determined that the existing constitutional mandate of the Board of Regents was adequate, and that what was needed could be done with statutory language.

Governor Foster's next initiative was to create another higher education board that would establish training for people who did not intend to go to a university for four years and for people who wanted workforce training.  The Legislature supported the initiative by passage of ACT 151 and ACT 170 during the First Extraordinary Session of 1998.  The voters of the state overwhelmingly approved the establishment of a separate board of the community colleges and the technical college campuses -- The Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors.

On July 1, 1999, the Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors became operational. The group of institutions brought together to create this System included the following:

Three long-established community colleges previously governed by the Board of Trustees of the University of Louisiana (UL) System:

• Bossier Parish Community College
• Delgado Community College
• Elaine P. Nunez Community College

Two relatively new community colleges, also previously under the UL board:

• River Parishes Community College
• South Louisiana Community College

One community college created by the state's desegregation settlement (1981 consent decree), previously under the Louisiana State University-Southern University Joint Management Board:

• Baton Rouge Community College

The Louisiana Technical College (LTC), a statewide institution established from the 42 free-standing campuses of a vocational/technical system previously governed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

Subsequently, the LCTC board has overseen the opening of Louisiana Delta Community College, Louisiana's newest community college located in West Monroe.


Highlights of LCTCS for 2004-2005

• Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco reaffirmed the Charge to the Board in April of 2004

• Baton Rouge and River Parishes Community Colleges received full accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Commission of Colleges (SACS-COC)

• South Louisiana Community College was awarded candidacy status by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Commission of Colleges (SACS-COC)