Louisiana lawmakers appear caught in a near-perpetual loop, repeatedly debating how to stabilize the TOPS free college tuition program and continually reaching no agreement on its future.
This latest iteration of the discussion about the popular entitlement program comes with a 10-member study group created by and populated with lawmakers, charged with trying to determine ways to ensure TOPS’ “long-term viability.”
But while the method for approaching the conversation has changed, the central debate remains the same: Should the nearly 20-year-old program be needs-based or merit-based? Or should lawmakers just acknowledge there’s no willingness to heavily rewrite the rules of a program that so many of the state’s middle-class families support?
It’s unlikely the ideas to emerge will strike new territory. Over the years as the TOPS price tag ballooned, lawmakers have thrown out an array of suggestions to lessen the spending.
Eliminate students in higher-income families? Raise the eligibility standards? Require repayment if a student fails to get a degree? End TOPS awards for students who attend private colleges? Make it a forgivable loan program? Mandate that TOPS students work in Louisiana after college or repay some of the tax dollars spent on their tuition? Change the program into a flat stipend not tied to tuition at all?
All those ideas have been floated—only to go nowhere in the Louisiana Legislature.
