TOPS Changing?

If you have a child in high school today, you may want to brace yourself for possible changes to TOPS, according two Vermilion Parish legislators.
Rep. Bob Hensgens and Rep. Blake Miguez spent all day at North Vermilion High School in Sammy Theriot’s civics class. For the last 25 years, Theriot, who teaches civics, has invited state and federal political officials to speak to his students.
While the two legislators explained how government works in Baton Rouge, they also spoke about something that will affect high school students who plan to go to college in the near future.
Since 1989, TOPS has helped pay for part or all of Louisiana high school student’s college tuition. When TOPS began in 1989, it was costing the state $35 million a year to fund it. Today, it is costing the state $600 million.
With the rising cost of funding TOPS, coupled with a forecasted state deficit of $1.5 billion, TOPS remaining the way it is today is in jeopardy.
Hensgens and Miguez are not 100 percent sure there will be changes to TOPS in the near future, but they are pretty sure, because of Louisiana’s new governor.
John Bel Edwards will be sworn in as the new Louisiana governor on Jan. 11.
When the legislators meet for a regular session in the spring of 2016, Hensgens said he expects a bill that would cap the amount that TOPS awards to make its way through the senate and house and then onto the governor’s desk.
Miguez explained to the students that a bill to cap TOPS was passed by the legislature last year but it was vetoed when it got to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk.
Last year, Miquez and Hensgens voted against capping TOPS in the House.
With Edwards as governor, Hensgens expects Edwards to sign that same bill if it clears the senate and the house this time around. Hensgens said, Edwards, as a state representative, voted in favor of putting a cap on TOPS.
Placing a cap on TOPS means that when tuition rises, TOPS will remain the same. Example: College tuition is $2,500, so a student, who qualifies for Honors TOPS gets his or her tuition paid for. But if there is a cap on TOPS, and the college raises its tuition to $3,000 a semester, the Honor TOPS student will continue to get $2,500 for college and will have to find the other $500.
Another change to TOPS may be raising the ACT score from 21 to 24. The higher the ACT score, the less students who will qualify for TOPS.
Hensgens said if the legislature passes the cap, those students who are already in college will also be affected.
Miquez explained to the students that TOPS helped him get through college at LSU.
“I want to keep TOPS going,” said Miguez. “We want to give you that opportunity to go to college by having TOPS. We don’t want to hinder your future. We think it is important to keep TOPS in place.”
Hensgens said he does not expect TOPS to go away altogether, but he expects there will be changes.