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re: New TOPS award approved for high-performing students
Posted on 6/25/25 at 4:17 pm to DrrTiger
Posted on 6/25/25 at 4:17 pm to DrrTiger
Anyone know if this applies to ACT composite scores only, or if super-scores can be used? If it's the former, little celtic gets to take that bastard one more time for that last point 
1
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:05 pm to Celtic Tiger
quote:
Anyone know if this applies to ACT composite scores only, or if super-scores can be used?
From their website:
“TOPS does not accept an ACT Superscore”
LINK
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:14 pm to DrrTiger
quote:
poaching our best students
BAW, that ain't near the best. 3.5 GPA is a low bar for Louisiana high schools.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:25 pm to armsdealer
quote:
3.5 GPA is a low bar for Louisiana high schools
Which is why the 31 ACT (96th percentile nationally) is also required.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:46 pm to DrrTiger
quote:
House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, creates the TOPS Excellence award, which is available to any student with a 3.5 grade point average and a score of 31 or higher on the ACT or an equivalent score on a similar exam.
I hope the equivalency tests include the SAT. My grandaughter has a 29 ACT and 3.7 GPA and was accepted into Honors Colege at LSU, but was a little short of qualifying for the new highest TOPS award. She also took the SAT and scored a 1510 which should presumably translate to a 31 or higher ACT score and hopefully she qualifies for the new award, I sure hope so. TOPS was first awarded to teh class of 1997 stuents. Her father , my son graduated in 1996 and would have clearly qualified but it was not made retroactive for students already enrolled.
This post was edited on 6/25/25 at 5:52 pm
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:47 pm to Sun God
Everybody needs an NIL deal, even the smartest nerds.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 5:49 pm to slidingstop
quote:
TOPS was originally intended for students who performed at a higher academic level. But of course the race baiters, race pimps, and bleeding hearts though it was racist and unfair to not make TOPS egalitarian. This will result in the same thing.
The same race hustlers will demand this money be shared amongst the academic troglodytes.
So we're just making stuff up now?
Posted on 6/25/25 at 6:28 pm to DakIsNoLB
quote:
I thought it was pretty generous in the early years; then they had to start reigning it in when they realized the universities kept increasing their tuition.
That’s only half the story though. Let’s look at 2008 (when TOPS still covered 100% of tuition, albeit not all fees) and 2018 (after TOPS had been gutted).
The numbers below are unrestricted funding at LSU per full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment, in 2018 dollars.
State Appropriations
2008: $11,245
2018: $4,834
Change: $(6,411)
Tuition & Fees
2008: $7,292
2018: $14,382
Change: $7,090
Combined State + Tuition/Fees
2008: $18,537
2018: $19,216
Change: $679
The reduction of state funding over that period accounted for 90% of the increase in tuition/fees. Even if we ignore the increase in enrollment over that period (meaning just look at the total budget dollars for both state appropriations and tuition revenue), the reduction of state funding still accounted for 74% of the increase in tuition/fees.
If you do the same analysis from 2008 to 2024 (using 2024 dollars), state funding per FTE enrollment has decreased by $9,060 while tuition & fees have only increased by $4,841. Meaning the total funding per FTE enrollment was actually lower in 2024 than in 2008 ($18,846 compared to $23,065).
So it’s true that increasing tuition forced reductions to TOPS awards, but the reality is that the increases in tuition were the direct result of reductions to state appropriations. The state shifted the burden from the general fund to the dedicated TOPS fund, which predictably led to a TOPS shortfall.
Reasonable people can argue about whether that’s good or bad - there’s a legitimate question of how much the state should be subsidizing higher education - but the universities didn’t suck TOPS dry. The legislature did.
Posted on 6/26/25 at 10:12 am to lostinbr
My apologies; what I meant was when I moved here in 2009 and looked into what TOPS was about, it looked like the top award was very generous.
You're right though; they've burned the candle at both ends. Raising tuition was a product of having a constant source of funding for students (much like federal student loans) as well as state cutbacks on their contributions to higher education.
You're right though; they've burned the candle at both ends. Raising tuition was a product of having a constant source of funding for students (much like federal student loans) as well as state cutbacks on their contributions to higher education.
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