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re: Louisiana should eliminate TOPS, Free up Budget
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:28 am to OceanMan
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:28 am to OceanMan
quote:
Great idea. Disrupt the #1 determinant of in-state tuition and thus demand for the University, to free up funds for the University so the budget can meet the forecasted demand with TOPS in place. Brilliant. Can tell how much of a thinker you are.
You did not read the article that I linked. Most of the people receiving TOPS money are well-off, and don't need the assistance - That means that they should be paying for their own tuition in the first place (which is how it was before.) They will still go to LSU, and that way the State is no longer paying for it. This, deep-thinker, reduces the the overall outlay that Louisiana's budget has been paying for.
4
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:29 am to sgbenne
To make this sports related...the quality of baseball players will decline as TOPS is helpful with limited scholarships.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:29 am to TGK4LSU
So saving TOPS is easy. Adjust the GPA and ACT requirements (and core class requirements) until the people that qualify going forward (including projected growth in the long term) are reduced by the amount you need to bring the line item into compliance with the new budgetary normal. Done and done.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:30 am to sgbenne
quote:
You did not read the article that I linked. Most of the people receiving TOPS money are well-off, and don't need the assistance
The program is not financial assistance. It is an incentive for High Schoolers to perform well, and residents to go to college in this state. By every measure, it has done a terrific job on both fronts. You're thinking of Pell grants which exist to send poor people to college. This isn't a program for poor people. It is an incentive and retention program.
This post was edited on 2/16/16 at 10:31 am
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:30 am to sgbenne
What a joke... GTFO. Your ignorance is showing.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:31 am to sgbenne
quote:
who don't need it
WTF? God forbid the people that pay for everything (the middle class) get a little back, right?
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:32 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
WTF? God forbid the people that pay for everything (the middle class) get a little back, right?
So wealthy people shouldn't be able to send their kids to public schools for free either. People who pay taxes in this state shouldn't derive any benefit from the thousands they pay.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:32 am to sgbenne
quote:
What I mean by, "don't need it", is that most of the beneficiaries are wealthy. See the article, which refers to a study of the program.
It is an incentive for the best students to stay in-state for college. The whole point of a scholarship is to incentivize certain students to attend a school. Can you seriously not see that this program is larger than dollars and cents?
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:33 am to sgbenne
quote:
Most of the people receiving TOPS money are well-off,
Uhh no 7ok/yr for a couple with kids is not "well off"
quote:
That means that they should be paying for their own tuition in the first place
No a lot of parents make their kids pay for school. And 70k/yr btwn a couple with kids is not a lot at all.
quote:
This, deep-thinker, reduces the the overall outlay that Louisiana's budget has been paying for.
Once those kids leave to go to out of state for college, they probably wont return. In which case you are just losing more revenue.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:34 am to sgbenne
quote:Do you not know the history of why TOPS was started by the Taylor family? It was because Louisiana saw a huge outflow of its better students leaving the state to go to college because other states have much greater scholarship endowment funds than Louisiana.
They will still go to LSU
TOPS was started in an attempt to keep the "best and brightest" students in Louisiana.
My only gripe about TOPS is that it got too watered down from a requirements standpoint. A C+ average in high school or a 20 ACT score is not an academic achievement worthy of an academic scholarship.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:35 am to More beer please
I think from now on, if you are too stupid to understand that TOPS isn't about helping poor people (that's every other social program), you shouldn't be able to discuss it or write articles on the matter.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:36 am to therick711
quote:
I think from now on, if you are too stupid to understand that TOPS isn't about helping poor people (that's every other social program), you shouldn't be able to discuss it or write articles on the matter.
Or the admins should just whack these threads immediately
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:36 am to LSURussian
quote:
My only gripe about TOPS is that it got too watered down from a requirements standpoint. A C+ average in high school or a 20 ACT score is not an academic achievement worthy of an academic scholarship.
Agreed. I would like to see it bumped significantly. A 3.2 and a 24 or 25 perhaps to start and ratchet it up every few years to incentivize school's improving the quality of their education.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:37 am to sgbenne
Louisiana doesn't need to reduce or eliminate ANY educational program.
what Louisiana needs to do is change the state constitution and get rid of the "sacred cow" status of every damn state program except education(and one other)
no matter how this budget crisis is "fixed" it will reoccur later. it always has.
Louisiana does NOT have a revenue problem, it has a SPENDING PROBLEM. there are many state agencies that can be pared down or cut and should be. the days of patronage should be gone.
what Louisiana needs to do is change the state constitution and get rid of the "sacred cow" status of every damn state program except education(and one other)
no matter how this budget crisis is "fixed" it will reoccur later. it always has.
Louisiana does NOT have a revenue problem, it has a SPENDING PROBLEM. there are many state agencies that can be pared down or cut and should be. the days of patronage should be gone.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:37 am to sgbenne
quote:
What I mean by, "don't need it", is that most of the beneficiaries are wealthy. See the article, which refers to a study of the program.
so its a taxpayer program that benefits taxpayers
so like it is exactly how it should work, no?
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:38 am to sgbenne
quote:
What I mean by, "don't need it", is that most of the beneficiaries are wealthy
So only poor people should be afforded scholarship opportunities? frick you and Bernie Sanders.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:38 am to More beer please
First off, TOPS is a merit based program and should remain merit based. The kids that put in the work should benefit from it, regardless of parental income.
My suggestion would be that TOPS would kick in during the sophomore year if you have earned the right to keep it. Would save the money on those kids that fail to keep it as freshmen.
My suggestion would be that TOPS would kick in during the sophomore year if you have earned the right to keep it. Would save the money on those kids that fail to keep it as freshmen.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:39 am to LSU GrandDad
Anyone interested in how Louisiana squanders money should feel free to check out this LINK.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:40 am to sgbenne
quote:
At the very least, the program should be modified so that the people who do need it are the primary beneficiaries.
The program was never intended to be a need based scholarship.
The intention was to keep Louisiana's best and brightest in Louisiana.
Posted on 2/16/16 at 10:41 am to Snooley10
quote:
My suggestion would be that TOPS would kick in during the sophomore year if you have earned the right to keep it. Would save the money on those kids that fail to keep it as freshmen.
There are several interesting ways to do it. First, you could make it a loan program that is forgiven upon graduation within 5 years. Second, you could make it an hour by hour thing, so classes that a student earns a C or lower in are not covered by TOPS. Plenty of ways to use the program to incentivize achievement.
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