Governor Bobby Jindal finally introduced a long-term plan to fund universities without more cuts. Hold your applause please; this plan will cost you, the stu­dent, more money.

For the past three years, high­er education has bore the brunt of the steep budget cuts Louisi­ana has faced.

Eliminated degree programs, teacher lay-offs, scholarship cuts, fewer student jobs and now even university mergers are all budget cut consequences stu­dents throughout the state have had to endure.

Throughout these cuts, most leaders in the state, both in the legislature and the governor’s of­fice, have opposed the notion of raising taxes.

After all, a tax increase is not really the best way to get re-elected.

Nor should it be the first op­tion to overcome a budget short­fall. Waste should be trimmed whenever possible.

However, Louisiana has moved well past that point, con­sidering that higher education has been cut some $400 million since 2008-2009.

Further cuts may not be a viable option for Jindal in this election year.

Higher taxes are definitely a no-no, if you are “in it to win it,” that is. So what do you do?

Simple, you raise taxes any­way but disguise it by calling the raise something else. In this case, call it a tuition hike.

A key part in Jindal’s plan is to increase tuition for students throughout the state.

Students not only have the stress of school to contend with, but many must also work jobs or rely on loans to support them­selves while trying to achieve a degree.

A tuition increase will make things even more difficult on these students.

With more financial burdens, likely situations could include students taking on more hours at work or taking out bigger loans.

Neither will help bolster de­gree completion rates, which have been ordained by Jindal as the only numbers that matter when evaluating a university.

Tuition hikes also serve as a tax on families that fund the majority of their college stu­dents’ tuitions.

These households may not have to write a bigger check to the state in April, but they will be writing bigger checks at the beginning of each semester.

Perhaps Jindal and his strate­gists figured they lost the college voters and their families long ago.

With this tuition hike, Jindal only angers those who are al­ready angry at him, rather than risk losing the support of all vot­ers by initiating an out-right tax.

So what if a tuition raise makes things harder for people already strapped for funds? If you get re-elected, isn’t that all that matters, Governor?