Louisiana Healthcare Connections is partnering with Compete LA to increase degree completion among its employees. Compete LA is the Universities of Louisiana’s answer for the 653,000 Louisiana adults who started college but did not finish their degrees.

I then learned this cost-effective approach was not only supporting students at one community college but had actually been embraced by an entire university system. Under the leadership of President Dr. Jim Henderson, the University of Louisiana System in partnership with StraighterLine, launched Compete LA Academy, which is part of Compete LA, a comprehensive initiative to reach 650,000 Louisiana adults with some college but no credential. I talked with Dr. Henderson about this new initiative and the promise it holds for Louisiana students—and the future of the state.

Taquila Babin was seven college courses shy of graduation from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette a decade ago when she got this jarring news: She was pregnant. That news meant this outcome for the broadcast journalism major: She dropped out of school. In 10 years since then she and her husband have added two more children but no academic degree for Babin, a Lafayette Parish native and Comeaux High graduate. That’s going to change.

It’s ironic that in a hands-off, COVID-19 sort of world, the University of Louisiana system is feeding one program’s growing success by providing its students with more one-on-one contact.

Compete LA, a statewide college completion initiative powered by the University of Louisiana System, is announcing the launch of Compete LA Academy, an ambitious new program designed to help adults who have stopped out of university return and earn their degree. The Academy is made possible through a collaboration with StraighterLine, which partners with colleges to provide affordable competency-based college readiness and re-entry programs.

The University of Louisiana System's Compete Louisiana college completion initiative is collaborating with StraighterLine to create a new re-entry academy designed to help adults who have stopped out of university return to earn their degree. The Compete LA Academy offers competency-based online courses, personalized counseling and help with financial aid and credit transfers.

Through Compete LA, these students are paired with coaches who evaluate their credits and help them virtually to reenroll in one of the state's nine participating universities.

For Amiee McFarland and Katrina Denman, earning a college degree is something they had pretty much given up on. Both had started college but were unable to finish a degree. The Compete LA initiative got them back on track and they will receive degrees from Northwestern State University this week.

In an initiative to encourage adults who didn't complete their degree to return to school, the University of Louisiana System will immediately lower its tuition across its nine schools to a flat-rate price of $275 a credit hour for returning adults. UL System President Jim Henderson announced Tuesday the tuition change, which is almost a 45% decrease in price, is part of the system's "Compete Louisiana" program, an initiative that was formed last year to boost the percentage of Louisianans with a college degree to 60% by 2030.

The University of Louisiana System announced on Tuesday a special tuition rate for Louisiana adults returning to school to finish their degree though Compete LA. According to a release from ULS, a flat rate of $275 per credit hour will apply to students who qualify through the program, and this rate provides an average discount of $450 per course.

Perhaps lost in all of the attention paid to the COVID-19 pandemic is a bit of good news for some of those seeking a college degree in Louisiana. A program called Compete LA seeks to help adults who have some college credit but have abandoned their college education before earning a degree to get back into school and finish.

The University of Louisiana System is announcing a special tuition rate for Louisiana adults returning to school to finish their degree though Compete LA. A flat rate of $275 per credit hour will apply to students who qualify through the program. This rate provides an average discount of $450 per course.

The University of Louisiana System announced on Tuesday a special tuition rate for Louisiana adults returning to school to finish their degree though Compete LA.

Adults returning to school to finish their degree can get a break on their tuition at Nicholls State University and other Louisiana colleges, officials said Tuesday.

In an initiative to encourage adults who didn't complete their degree to return to school, the University of Louisiana System will immediately lower its tuition across its nine schools to a flat-rate price of $275 a credit hour for returning adults.

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The University of Louisiana System is announcing a special tuition rate for Louisiana adults returning to school to finish their degree though Compete LA. A flat rate of $275 per credit hour will apply to students who qualify through the program. This rate provides an average discount of $450 per course.

The University of Louisiana System has come up with a great program to help Louisiana residents who started but never finished college get back to school and earn their degrees. Compete LA, the topic of a short Associated Press story on Page A2 of today’s Courier and Daily Comet, is so brilliant it’s hard to believe nobody has done it before. An estimated 653,000 Louisiana residents have dropped out before completing a college degree, state statistics show. The program aims to make it as easy as possible for them to enroll in one of the UL system’s nine regional universities, including Nicholls State in Thibodaux.

The University of Louisiana System has launched a new program with the goal of getting Louisianians back to school and finishing their bachelor's degree. System President and CEO Jim Henderson discussed the details of the Compete LA program Thursday at a luncheon for One Acadiana members. The program is designed to reengage the approximately 653,000 people in Louisiana with some college credits who dropped out before completing a degree. Henderson said the program is not only an opportunity to improve the state's second-to-last ranking on adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, but also an ability to work toward One Acadiana's goal of having 55% of Acadiana's population achieve a secondary education degree or certification by 2025.

One Acadiana hosted a luncheon today featuring University of Louisiana System President and CEO Jim Henderson to announce the launch of their new Complete LA initiative. Complete LA aims to re-engage Louisianians who have some college credit, but no degree. The program aligns with One Acadiana's 55 by 25 initiative by providing support to adults who are considering returning to college to earn a bachelor's degree.

University of Louisiana System President and CEO Jim Henderson announced the launch of Compete LA, a program designed to re-engage the 653,000 Louisianians with some college credit but no degree. Henderson, former president of Northwestern State University, introduced the program during the monthly meeting of the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday. “For Louisiana to be competitive in the economy of the future, we have to develop a more educated workforce,” Henderson said. “Compete LA is designed to cut through the red tape of returning to school and provide supports at every step of the student’s educational journey.”

The prime candidates for enlarging Louisiana’s pool of college graduates aren’t just kids fresh from high school. They’re also like Brikinya McZeal, who is 35 and had 47 hours in college, but moved into the workforce without getting a secondary degree. Now, because of Compete LA, a promising new program of the University of Louisiana system, she is taking online courses with a view to getting the business management diploma that would help her with her career. For Jim Henderson, who heads the University of Louisiana system, that is the kind of student who can return to higher education either through online courses or in person.

A new statewide program is looking for ways for the more than 650,000 college dropouts in Louisiana to find their way back to class. Called Compete LA, the thought behind the program is to make returning to college easier for those who never finished their degree. The program includes a variety of online degree programs and other convenient class structures designed for Louisianians with some college credit. According to Competela.org, personal coaches will guide students through the process of re-enrollment and find their fastest pathway to a degree. The free coach will also provide support to help them navigate their college journey through graduation.

Brikinya McZeal is about to start taking college classes again, lured back to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette 15 years after leaving by a new state push to boost the woeful number of adults in Louisiana with a college degree and the skills needed in a changing workforce. McZeal, 35, plans to take 12 hours online during the fall semester to go with the 47 she already has in hopes of earning a degree in business management. What got her attention is a new program called Compete LA, which is targeting the 1 in 5 adults in Louisiana — 653,000 — who went to college but left without a degree.

The University of Louisiana System is launching an effort to help students who never finished college get back to school. Maybe the freshman's parent lost a job and he had to return home. Maybe she had a baby. Maybe college wasn't right for him at 18, and now he's ready but in debt or working full-time or just doesn't know how to apply. No matter the reason, there are 653,000 adults in Louisiana — one in five — with some college credit but no degree.