LSU’s registration for the spring semester begins next week, and while students are mapping out their course work for the upcoming semester university officials are preparing for the fact that tuition will not be fully covered by the popular TOPS program.
During the legislative session earlier this year, lawmakers were only able to scrape together enough money in the cash-strapped state budget to partially fund the tuition scholarship program. Against the wishes of Gov. John Bel Edwards and LSU officials, they fully funded the program for the fall semester but only funded it at 47.6% for the spring.
At the time, many hoped the Legislature would reconvene in a special session this fall to find additional revenues and “fix” the TOPS problem. But that didn’t happen, and lawmakers say it’s not going to because at this point the state’s revenue picture is still unclear.
LSU officials say they don’t think the TOPS changes will drastically impact enrollment for the spring semester. In late summer, the university established a call bank and reached out to all 16,000 TOPS eligible students and their families to explain the funding changes. LSU Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs Jason Droddy says the university will again touch base with those students and families in November.
“We think most students have made their choice for the year,” he says. “But we won’t really know until after registration closes next month.”
In the meantime, LSU officials are working on some sort of solution that could possibly help students and their families offset the cost of next semester’s higher tuition. Droddy says he cannot yet discuss specifics of the plan, though he hopes to make an announcement soon.
“We are not quite ready to talk about that yet, but we are going to ensure that working families have access to a national-caliber education and the lowest price possible,” he says. “We’re working on a number of options and trying to figure this out as quickly as we can.”
Registration for the spring semester begins online Oct. 23 and lasts through mid-November.
—Stephanie Riegel
