August 22, 2010

As Stimulus Money Runs Out, Tough Times Lie Ahead for South Central States

Jim Frank, Gulf Coast Research Lab

Gulf Coast states suffered some unexpected hits this year, chief among them the BP oil spill, which devastated the local tourism and seafood industries. Here, clumps of sargassum drift among oil-sheen fields.

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Jim Frank, Gulf Coast Research Lab

Gulf Coast states suffered some unexpected hits this year, chief among them the BP oil spill, which devastated the local tourism and seafood industries. Here, clumps of sargassum drift among oil-sheen fields.

By Katherine Mangan

Despite some glimmers of hope on the horizon, higher education faces a mostly turbulent forecast in the South Central region, where record enrollments continue to collide with static or shrinking budgets.

The region stretches from the Chihuahuan desert of West Texas through the Piney Woods of East Texas, and across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama—three Gulf states whose economies were battered in 2010 by the BP oil spill. Rounding out the region, to the north, are Tennessee,