I like TOPS as much as any other middle-income parent with a child attending a tuition-subsidized Louisiana public university, writes Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his latest column.
Yet, here’s the dirty secret: My son, who just began his freshman year, has made it clear he’s out of here the second he earns that degree. My daughter, a senior in high school, doesn’t want to wait that long, declaring an out-of-state college and then life in NYC—or Europe—is where she wants to be.
We can debate TOPS from multiple angles, Ball writes, but let’s acknowledge what the program has become: A workforce development program for states like Texas funded by the taxpayers of Louisiana. Too frequently this state subsidizes the college education of our native sons and daughters, only to see way too many of them leave for out-of-state cities offering jobs with higher pay, even more really smart young people and, by their standards, better quality of life options.
We all get the strong public appeal of TOPS, but as public policy it makes little sense the way it’s playing out. It’s especially problematic given the challenge Baton Rouge—and the rest of Louisiana—faces in convincing young educated people to live here. This must change if we’re going to truly diversify our economy in a knowledge-based world.
Bluntly put, TOPS isn’t getting the job done, so it’s time to try something else. If Louisiana is going to attract the types of jobs and companies that would take it into the future, it needs to have the educated workforce available, and right now, many of them are leaving.
Read Ball’s full column. Send comments to editor@Businessreport.com.
