NEWSBEAT REPORTER

Discussion continues concerning the proposed flagship fee and with talk of tuition increase and budget cuts, questions arise over what will happen to the TOPS program.

LSU System President John Lombardi said that merit-based TOPS scholarships must be capped because if tuition goes up, TOPS must increase causing a strain on the state budget.

Lombardi said TOPS inadequately supports financially needy students, and the scholarships should not cover full tuition for wealthy families. He predicts capping and redoing TOPS will save $19 million.

LSU students feel that TOPS should remain only merit based giving students an incentive to work hard.

“I think TOPS is meant to pay for the full tuition for the students, and if it was shifted towards a financial need basis, it would loose such a motivational driving force for all of the other students,” said Adam Mercer, student. “I know through my school all of the students strived, and whenever our GPAs would drop, we were all worried because we might loose tops.”