LSU President F. King Alexander said the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, which faces a $20 million budget shortfall for the upcoming year, has put higher education in a fiscal dilemma, and reforms need to be considered.
Alexander said the 13 other states who have programs similar to TOPS have got themselves in a “bind,” and Louisiana faces the decision to put higher education funds into TOPS to keep it afloat or into colleges to keep their costs down.
“It’s a vicious cycle, really, that we’re caught up in,” Alexander said.
Jack Hart, assistant executive director of the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance, announced the TOPS budget deficit at a meeting of the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission on Thursday. The commission also passed a measure allowing students to boost their GPAs during the summer.
The meeting took place two months after a tumultuous legislative session for higher education, which faced nearly $600 millionin budget cuts.
Under previous rules, students who received a TOPS scholarship could use intersessions and the summer semester to attain the award’s required hours and end the suspension of their TOPS status but not to achieve the GPA standards required to keep their scholarships.
Students who received the award can now use the summer to achieve the TOPS cumulative GPA standards without losing their stipend.
The LSU system accounted for more than $99 million in state TOPS award money in the 2014-15 school year, and nearly 30 percent of students in the LSU system receive TOPS, including a quarter of students at the Baton Rouge campus, according to the commission’s statistics.
Alexander said if scholarships wipe out state funding for institutions, they become irrelevant.
“A scholarship to nowhere doesn’t get you anything,” Alexander said.
The state appropriation for TOPS is about $265 million this year, while the program’s costs will come close to $285 million.
Hart said the Board of Regents, the Office of Planning and Budget and the legislative fiscal staff were aware of the discrepancy.
Sujuan Boutte, executive director of LOSFA, addressed the cost gaps between award money and student fees for low-income students, reporting community concerns.
“Parents are calling me saying TOPS is not doing what it needs to do,” Boutte said.
One student who lived at home owed a total of $4,000 after a scholarship covered tuition, Boutte said.
Referencing an article by the Institute for College Access and Success, Boutte said costs not related to tuition make up the majority of college costs, and low-income students are more likely to graduate with debt — even with free tuition.
The commission’s meeting agenda detailed the cost gap for LSU students receiving the maximum federal Pell Grant. Students without TOPS need nearly $15,000 in assistance, while those with TOPS still need $9,168 after receiving maximum federal awards.
Pell Grants are need-based disbursements to students, which don’t need to be repaid and are capped at $5,775 this school year.
LOSFA Communications Director Gus Wales gave updates on TOPS seminars and financial aid workshops conducted over the summer and attended by hundreds of Louisiana students and parents.
The commission’s programs aim to help students and parents navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and other financial assistance programs.
Boutte reported that 750 Louisiana students incorrectly filled out their FAFSA this year.

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Nicholas Martino

Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance Director of Commissions, Gus Wales, addresses the budget issues and requirement changes for the TOPS scholarship on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015, in Baton Rouge.