The Advocate had really pissed in their Wheaties this week when you couple this with Mathew Harris troll article in the Sports Section yesterday. They could have run this article any time but these two weeks and probably got a serious read but now you have to question their motives. Leaves one to wonder if the Advocate should move to Tuscaloosa...

When you break down the numbers they are still not very far apart. According to this article Bama was at one point about 10K - 12K students smaller than LSU???

Budget cut since 2008:

LSU — $129 million, 52 percent.

Alabama — $12.4 million, 33 percent.

In-state tuition:

LSU — $7,873

Alabama — $9,200

Out-of-state tuition:

LSU — $22,265

Alabama — $22,950

Enrollment:

LSU — 29,865

Enrollment — 33,602

Graduation rate:

LSU — 67 percent

Alabama — 67 percent

Retention Rate:

LSU— 84 percent

Alabama — 85 percent

Graduates’ starting salaries:

LSU — $47,300

Alabama — $41,500

Graduates’ mid-career salaries:

LSU — $83,200

Alabama — $76,500

Loan default rate:

LSU — 4.9 percent

Alabama 5.6 percent

Median borrowing:

LSU: $172 per month

Alabama $233 per month

Student to faculty ratio:

LSU — 23 to 1

Alabama 19 to 1

Endowment:

LSU — $311,656,000

Alabama — $539,969,000

Faculty changes over five years

LSU — Lost 220

Alabama — Added 408

Enrollment over 10 years

LSU — Declined by 1,369 students

Alabama — Grown by 14,003 students

State population:

Louisiana — 4,533,000

Alabama — 4,780,000

Number of four-year public universities:

Louisiana — 13

Alabama — 14

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, LSU and Alabama.