Higher ed system representatives back TOPS changes

Representatives from three of Louisiana’s higher education systems all say the state needs to at least consider reforming TOPS. University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett, Southern University System President Ronald Mason and LSU Chancellor Mike Martin all called for changes to the scholarship program during a luncheon today organized by the League of Women Voters of Baton Rouge. The event, which also featured Joe May, head of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, was organized to discuss best solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the state. Martin says standards for the merit-based scholarship perhaps should be raised, with savings put towards need-based programs. Martin also says some TOPS recipients might be better motivated if they had to pay a share of their tuition, and the state should look at a better mix of financial aid for students, including work/study grants. Moffett says other states have higher standards for their equivalent programs, and some of those states have capped the awards, he says. “I’m not sure we can continue to support [TOPS] at the level that it’s drawing on the state’s budget,” Moffett says. Mason says he agrees with Martin and Moffett. “I’m new to town,” Mason says. “I was told TOPS was the one thing you couldn’t talk about. … I wish it could be changed, but I’m told politically it’s just not going to happen.” —David Jacobs