A Senate committee on Thursday rejected a bill that would have capped the amount of money college-bound Louisiana high school graduates can get under the state’s Taylor Opportunity Program for Students.
Named for the late Louisiana oil man Pat Taylor, who was a champion of the program, TOPS provides scholarships to any Louisiana high school student who meets certain grade point average and college entrance test score requirements.
The basic TOPS award covers tuition at any state public university. Higher achieving students can earn extra awards under the program.
As amended by its sponsor, Sen. Butch Gautreaux, the bill would have capped TOPS basic awards at 90 percent of the 2009-2010 levels.
Gautreaux said TOPS is a good program but its rising cost — from $54 million in 1998-99 to nearly $130 million for 2009-10 — is an increasing burden on the financially strapped state. He estimated that capping the award would cost most students about $300 per year, and save the state more than $12 million.
But the Senate Education Committee on Thursday voted 5-1 against the measure in the face of opposition from Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation and two LSU students.
Martina Scheuermann of Kenner, student government vice president at LSU, said the TOPS award was the reason she attended LSU. With future tuition increases likely in years to come, a decision to cap the TOPS award would cause more hardship for some students, she said.
“My concern is for the future,” Scheuermann said.
Gautreaux argued that the cost increase for students would be relatively small, but LSU student J. Hudson noted that it only adds to costs that the basic TOPS award does not cover, including thousands of dollars for housing, food and numerous student fees.
The committee voted 5-1 to defer action on the bill, effectively bottling it up in committee for the rest of the legislative session.—-Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]