A proposal to rewrite Louisiana’s TOPS college tuition program, to limit the dollars flowing to lower-performing students, is hitting pushback before it even gets a vote.
Sen. Dan “Blade” Morrish, a Jennings Republican, wants to reduce the amount of tuition covered for students who reach the basic award for a four-year college, to give them a flat $4,000 payment for the year, below the $5,600 average annual tuition rate in Louisiana. Payments would then increase for higher-performing students.
Currently, the program has tiers that offer stipends for higher-performing students, but tuition at a four-year school is covered for any high school graduate who reaches a 2.5 grade-point average and 20 ACT college entrance exam score.
A legislative task force studying TOPS will decide Feb. 7 whether to include Morrish’s proposal in its recommendations to the full Legislature. Critics on Wednesday said the changes could keep students from attending college and disproportionately hit poorer students.
“For some kids, that $1,600 is going to be the difference between them going to college or not,” said Sen. Wesley Bishop, a New Orleans Democrat.
