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A bill filed for the upcoming session provides an incentive for students to attend a Louisiana public university if they achieve a score of 31 or higher on the ACT. Ruston Representative Christopher Turner is proposing that high school students who score that high can receive up to 12-thousand dollars yearly in TOPS scholarship money to attend a public university in Louisiana.
“A lot of the fees and tuitions have changed and TOPS assistance hasn’t changed, ” Turner said. “This changes TOPS where the money follows the students and we then we are paying our top tier students, the ones that have done better, we are paying them more to stay in Louisiana to go to school in Louisiana.”
Participation in the TOPS scholarship has declined. According to state data, in the 2020-21 school year, 56,000 students were on TOPS, this year there are fewer than 48,000 TOPS recipients.
Since 2016, the amount of money a student receives from the TOPS scholarship has not changed, which has contributed to the decline in students accepting TOPS. Turner’s bill would raise the existing award amounts and the highest performing students coming out of high school would receive $12,000 annually. He says the goal is to get our best brightest to stay in Louisiana.
“You always hear about our kids going to Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas or Texas, so we are trying to keep those top tier students here by offering them more money,” Turner said.
Incoming freshmen for the next school year are eligible for the new award, if the bill becomes law. Turner says the legislation would also provide $3,500 to students who want to attend a two-year school.
“And really help out those students that are maybe going to a technical school to have a trade or skill, but not have to go for the academic side,” Turner said.
The proposed legislation has up to a 35-million-dollar price tag. The governor proposed a stand still budget, so finding money to pump more money into the TOPS program will be a challenge.
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