LSU today outlined several financial aid options for TOPS-eligible students whose scholarship awards are likely to be cut because of the state’s budget crunch, including a plan that allows for some students to make partial payments throughout the spring semester.
The university sent out an email today to TOPS-eligible students with details about the plan, which also touts federal loans as an option for cash-strapped students and their families.
The payment plan isn’t a new option, an LSU spokesman says, but the university is waiving the standard fee for students to sign up for it.
“Due to the 14,000 LSU students who are TOPS recipients, the university is unable to provide the $27 million necessary to cover the difference between everyone’s TOPS awards and the remaining tuition amount,” reads LSU’s email to TOPS recipients. “Your fee bill, which you should receive today, will indicate if you owe a balance or not.”
The payment plan requires students to pay half their balance by Dec. 8, then pay the rest in three equal installments through the rest of the semester. Any TOPS recipient at LSU can apply to defer their payments.
LSU also outlines federal financial aid options available through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, as well as the Parent PLUS federal loan program.
Amid a state budget crunch earlier in 2016, the Louisiana Legislature voted to “front-load” TOPS this academic year. Lawmakers fully funded the popular college scholarship program for the fall semester but left it only partially funded for the spring, with hopes that more money would materialize for the program later.
The money never materialized, and the state is grappling with a roughly $300 million midyear deficit driven by job losses. As a result, TOPS will issue payments worth only 41.8% of their fully funded value, leaving students and their families with the rest of the bill.
Beginning Tuesday, university officials will once again call all TOPS-eligible students to inform them of what’s going on, LSU says. The university used a similar call bank in July.
Anyone with questions about financial aid can visit www.lsu.edu/tops, call (225) 578-3103 or email financialaid@lsu.edu.
