TOPS Rule Change:
On March 19, 2012, the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission amended Section 301 of the Scholarship and Grant Program Rules to change the definition of academic year (college) to include summer sessions.

Beginning with the 2011-2012 Academic Year and thereafter, the TOPS Academic Year begins with the fall term of the award year and concludes immediately before the next fall term commences.
All intersessions and summer sessions are included. TOPS does not automatically pay for summer sessions. See below for specific criteria that must be met in order for TOPS to pay for summer.
This change applies only to TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors Award recipients.

For TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors recipients in Academic Programs, this change means:

Your window to earn 24 Academic Year Hours to meet the TOPS requirement now includes Summer and any available Summer-Fall Intersessions. Hours earned from all semesters and terms from Fall Semester (Fall Term at La Tech) through Summer-Fall Intersession, as well as any available Intersessions will be included.

If your TOPS Award is in Good Standing at the conclusion of Spring Term/Semester, and you meet any of the criteria below, TOPS funding for Summer Session is available, if you elect to request it by completing the TOPS Summer Session Request Form. It is important to remember that using TOPS for Summer Funding counts as one of your eight semesters.

Specific Conditions Under Which TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors Awards Pays for Summer:

• the summer session is required in your degree program for graduation and you enrolled for at least the minimum number of hours required for the degree program, or
• you can complete your program's graduation requirements in the summer session, or
• the course(s) taken during the summer session is required for graduation in the program in which you are enrolled and is only offered during the summer session, or
• the summer session is conducted for a nonacademic program in which you are enrolled, or
• you have earned at least 60 hours of college credit.

Students who do not meet the above criteria may always attend a summer session at their own expense.
NOTE: An award made for summer school expends one semester or term of TOPS eligibility.