Having the highest number of TOPS-qualifying students in the state, the University is being hit the hardest with the reality that most of its student body will soon have to look elsewhere for tuition funds.
The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students was cut 70 percent overall for this academic year, but that cut isn’t spread evenly over both semesters. TOPS is currently funded at 93.06 percent for the fall semester and 47.63 percent for the spring semester. 
The Louisiana Legislature came up with the idea of “front-loading” the cuts in order to decrease out-of-pocket expenses for the first semester of the budget.
As cuts to the program were being discussed earlier in the year, biology freshman Hannah Martin, who was on track to attend LSU, nearly transferred to Southeastern Louisiana University. 
“I wasn’t really happy about it … I was totally set to go to LSU, then TOPS got cut short so I applied to Southeastern, and for a time I was fully planning on going to Southeastern,” she said. “Out of all the things to take money from, I feel like it should not have been education.”
Martin was accepted to SLU, and only decided to return to her original plan of attending the flagship university after reproportioning her savings and loans. To save up money that will invariably go toward the stark deficit in tuition she’ll face next semester, Martin is currently searching for a job.  
With approval from the Board of Supervisors in July, the University increased tuition by 4.95 percent, or $242 each semester, for in-state undergraduate students, according to The Advocate. Student fees will also increase by $177 per semester. 
TOPS serves over 50,000 students statewide. 
Approved by the Louisiana Legislature in May, Senate Bill 329 ensures the raising of the GPA requirements for the TOPS “Performance” and “Honors” awards, which wouldn’t go into effect for five years. 
To offset the cuts, students are resorting to other methods of payment, including taking out more student loans or enrolling in the University’s deferred payment program. 
Psychology sophomore Kandice Kelsey is facing a large deficit next semester — in order to cover the cost of living and tuition, she will be looking into taking out a greater amount of loans than she already has. 
“Next semester I’m going to have to take out other loans and find other payment methods because even with the loans I have now, it’s not going to cover it. I’d be lucky if it covered half of everything at this point,” Kelsey said. 
While TOPS previously covered students’ tuition, it doesn’t cover additional University fees. Many students struggle to afford the cost of living in Baton Rouge. The TOPS budget cuts is another obstacle students face in making ends meet.   
In a column appearing in The Washington Post on Aug. 10, LSU President F. King Alexander wrote about the need for state and federal governments to work together to ensure the affordability of public universities. 
“While many hypotheses about why tuition has increased have been bandied about, studies have shown that more than 80 percent of public higher education tuition increases during the past two decades were directly related to state disinvestment,” the editorial reads. 
“As Americans, we believe in educational access and opportunity for all,” Alexander said. “But more than 200 universities charge the equivalent of the median American annual household income — $51,000 — or more. We are pricing our students out of their futures.”
In Louisiana public high schools, students are counseled to take required classes in order to fulfill TOPS requirements. Now, upon graduation, many are seeing that the fruits of the labor they worked so hard to obtain isn’t readily available. 
Sophomore mass communication student Kaylee Poche graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA and a resume loaded with extracurriculars. She lives on campus and has a meal plan; with TOPS and two other scholarships, Poche still owes the University $4,500.
“I feel like I don’t have much confidence in this state’s ability to solve the problem of making higher education affordable,” she said. 
Had she known the TOPS program was going to change, Poche said she isn’t so sure she would have attended the University originally. 
“I would definitely look at other schools,” Poche said. “I think it’s harder to get scholarships than people realize.”