State immediately halts paying for TOPS scholarship program

In an unprecedented move, the state’s student financial aid office on Thursday notified Louisiana’s colleges and universities that it had stopped TOPS payments because of the uncertainty related to the state budget crisis.
“Due to the possibility of state budget cuts, all TOPS payments are being suspended until further notice,” said an email from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance that went out to all TOPS eligible institutions at 3 p.m. “More details will be provided as information becomes available.”
However, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday night that none of the 49,710 students who are TOPS recipients will have to cover the cost of their scholarships. While about 20 percent of the TOPS scholarships will not be paid, the governor said it will be the universities and colleges that will absorb the loss.
Before the governor’s statement, other higher education officials were trying to understand how the decision would impact students and the scholarship program.
Jason Droddy, executive director of policy and external affairs for LSU, said Thursday afternoon that it was unclear what the outcome will be because “we’ve never been through this before.”
“We just don’t know a whole lot; I don’t know exactly how it will affect students,” he said. “TOPS is a contract between the state and a student. And we’re just the facilitators.”
LSU has more TOPS eligible students than any other Louisiana institution with about 53 percent of its students in the program in 2014.
While LSU leads in TOPS eligible students, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette has 37 percent of its students in TOPS.