(Louisiana Illuminator) - University of New Orleans students and alumni are in favor of the school’s transfer from the University of Louisiana System to the LSU System, but both groups are concerned the 68-year-old institution could lose its identity in the transition.
More than 1000 UNO students and 300 alumni were surveyed on their thoughts about the switch, which goes into effect July 1. The move will reverse the action legislators took 14 years ago to move the school to the University of Louisiana System after being affiliated with LSU since its founding in 1958.
While 65% of surveyed students and 59% of alumni expressed support for the move, both said loss of the legacy UNO brand as a top concern.
Part of the transition includes returning the university to its original name, LSU New Orleans, and adopting purple and gold as the school’s colors, shedding its current blue and silver. Its mascot will remain the Privateers.
At the time of the system switch in 2011, UNO alumni and boosters also applauded that plan, as many felt the university was an afterthought in the LSU System.
In their survey responses, UNO alumni also said they are uneasy over how resources will be allocated across the LSU System after the transition. Students and graduates also said the prospect of more stable funding and the prospect of increased enrollments are key allures of the switch.
UNO’s transfer back to the LSU System happened in response to a long-running enrollment decline at the New Orleans school, which has caused a fiscal crisis. The school had a student body of around 17,000 before Hurricane Katrina, with an immediate drop to around 6,000 after the storm. For the fall 2025 semester, its total enrollment was 5,670.
As its student count has sunk, the university has struggled to deal with mounting debt and deficits totaling in the tens of millions.
By comparison, schools in the LSU System have reported enrollment increases for the past few years in defiance of the national college trend.
The survey also found 60% of students believe the transfer will increase the value of their degrees, while 31% of alumni said the same.
The LSU System is also going through a reorganization to combine its research-heavy instances, including its medical schools, under the same umbrella as the Baton Rouge main campus, with the goal of attaining a higher research ranking.
While UNO is also a research university, LSU has not publicly discussed the possibility of folding it into the reorganization.
