BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's community and technical colleges won't be raising tuition rates on students this fall, after lawmakers largely shielded the schools from budget cuts.

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors announced the decision Friday, saying it was the first time in five years tuition won't be boosted on its campuses.

However, two new fees were enacted by the board — for students who take excess credit hours and for students in programs delivered in a compressed time frame to fill high-demand jobs. Five percent of any money generated by those new fees will be spent on need-based aid.

State lawmakers enacted a budget cut to the TOPS college tuition program in the financial year that begins July 1, but they kept college campuses at flat financing otherwise.