re: Why no Post-TOPS residency requirement?

I agree there should be a residency requirement. Maybe having to give back half of the tops money if you move out of state. All of it back seems to much (based on nothing but my own feelings on it) but it’s supposed to be an investment in our state but that investment is fleeing as soon as they graduate

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Why can't they stay in LA & create new jobs themselves...?

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Do you think that's how things work? You graduate and create a job for yourself?

Jesus.

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Do you think that's how things work? You graduate and create a job for yourself?

Jesus.

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OR

DON'T graduate & create a job for yourself. 1000s do it every single year.

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DON'T graduate & create a job for yourself. 1000s do it every single year.

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How exactly are these jobs just created?

Note: applying for and getting a job with a company isn't "creating a job."

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Wasn't TOPS really just a shift in the funding mechanism? I believe when I was in college (pre-TOPS) the state paid a greater portion of the tuition. Maybe I'm mistaken. I know tuition when I was at LSU was like $1200-1300/semester.

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This is correct and you are not mistaken.

In the late 70s and into the 80s, the cost of in-state tuition was subsidized by the state to the tune of 75%. Thus if you were a Louisiana resident back then, you were only paying around 25% of the actual cost of attending college. It was a great deal and real benefit of being a Louisiana resident; it was doing what in-state tuition in any state is SUPPOSED to do-- help make college education available and affordable for state residents (those who graduated high school in the state).

Problem was, back then ALL state schools had an open admissions policy. Essentially ANYONE who graduated from a Louisiana High School was admitted to LSU, UNO, SLU, etc. The guy who barely graduated with a 1.75 GPA got the same tuition deal as the guy graduating with a 3.45 GPA.

However, the 1.75 GPA crowd had to take remedial courses, and usually flunked out of LSU after partying for a semester or year. Real waste of state resources; that 75% subsidy was poorly spent on those 'students".

State colleges then thankfully eliminated the open admissions policy, and later installed TOPS. Along the way, the funding subsidy went from 75% to 25%. The tuition bill was a lot higher, but for those with decent enough grades and test scores, TOPS would pay up to 100% of tuition and fees, so the subsidy is still there, but at least it is going to those who should be in college.

The other problem is the ridiculous rise in the cost of on-campus room and board, which is over $10,000 per year now.

"The Government is so incompetent!"

"Hey, we should require it to track where 20,000 graduates a year move to!"

This is how you create a 300 person State agency.

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Because often times the job market does not support that premise.

Signed,
2010 graduate

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Signed 2001 graduate

Are there enough jobs in Louisiana to preserve the graduate base?

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However the TOPS program, according to their website, was founded to fund the college education of high achieving, low income students first.

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This is dead on balls accurate. But white middle class people in this state will never admit it. Pat Taylor created this to benefit academically qualified kids from impoverished backgrounds.