BATON ROUGE- A panel of college leaders says Louisiana will fall further behind if it fails to shift its priorities and restore financial support for higher education.
    
At the same time, the leaders say the state, particularly Baton Rouge, is well-suited to spur future economic growth if it can substantially increase the number of students who not only make it to college but go on to complete two- and four-year degrees.
    
LSU Chancellor and President F. King Alexander says higher education has sustained some of the steepest cuts in the nation in per capita funding during the past several years, yet Louisiana spends among the most per capita in the country on its prisons.
    
Alexander warned that drastic cuts some have called for, including closing state colleges, would make things worse.