LOUISIANA
STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
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TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: |
T2000-22 |
DATE ISSUED: |
September 11, 2000 |
EFFECTIVE DATE: |
As Indicated |
| DISTRIBUTION: | Louisiana High School Principals and Counselors, City and Parish School Board Presidents, School Board Superintendents, College and University, Technical College and LAICU Chancellors, Financial Aid Offices, Business Offices, and Auditors, System Governance, Board of Regents, Department of Education, Louisiana Officials, Louisiana Legislators, and Commission Members |
| TOPIC: | TOPS Legal Guardian, Orphan, SAT Scores, TOPS—Tech, and Attendance at Ineligible Institutions for High School Graduates in 2001 and Thereafter |
To assure that your Scholarship and Grant Policy and Procedure Manual remains current, please record this document on your TOPS Bulletin index and retain it with your manual.
The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission has revised TOPS rules (Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 28, Part IV) to:
| * | Provide definitions for "Legal Guardian" and "Orphan" for the purpose of determining a student’s residency as a qualification for TOPS. |
| * | Provide that students request the College Board to report their SAT scores electronically to LOSFA. When student’s complete their SAT test registration form, they should enter ‘9019', which is the appropriate SAT code for LOSFA, and ‘TOPS’ as the institution. |
| * | Clarify that courses that are equivalent to those required in the TOPS Core Curriculum for Honors, Performance, and Opportunity awards also may substitute for core curriculum requirements for TOPS—TECH. |
| * | Provide that students graduating from high school in 2001 and thereafter may not claim a financial commitment or acceptance of an academic or athletic scholarship or grant to attend a postsecondary institution outside of Louisiana as an exceptional circumstance for waiver of the TOPS requirement to enroll in an eligible institution |
The full compilation of TOPS rules with all changes incorporated to date may be viewed on our website at http://www.osfa.state.la.us. The revisions follow*:
Part IV. Student Financial Assistance—Higher Education Scholarship and Grant Programs
...
Chapter 3. Definitions
§301. Definitions
...
Legal Guardian—an adult appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction to have custody and care of a minor, and who demonstrates the requirement to provide the primary support for such minor.
...
Orphan—a person who does not live with either parent because the parent(s) is/are dead or has/have abandoned him or the parental rights of the parent(s) has/have been severed by competent authority.
...
Chapter 5. Application; Application Deadlines and Proof of Compliance
...
§509. American College Test (ACT) Testing Deadline
E. ...
B. The student may substitute an equivalent score, as
determined by the comparison tables used by LASFAC, on an equivalent Scholastic
Aptitude Test (SAT) taken on or before the official April test date in the
Academic Year (High School) in which the student graduates. In order to
substitute a SAT score, the student must direct the College Board to send the
score to LOSFA so that the score is electronically reported to LOSFA by the
College Board within 45 days of the final test date allowed by Section 509. SAT
scores received in any other manner shall not be considered.
C.-E. ...
...
Chapter 7. Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Opportunity,
Performance, and Honors Awards
...
§703. Establishing Eligibility
A.1.
- 5.a.i.
ii. for purposes of satisfying the requirements of 703.A.5.a.i., above, or
803.A.6.a., the following courses shall be considered equivalent to the
identified core courses and may be substituted to satisfy corresponding core
courses:
|
Core Curriculum Course |
Equivalent (Substitute) Course |
|
Physical Science |
General Science |
|
Algebra I |
Algebra I, Parts 1 and 2 |
|
Applied Algebra IA and IB |
Applied Mathematics I and II |
|
Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry |
Integrated Mathematics I, II and III |
|
Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, or Comparable Advanced Mathematics |
Pre-Calculus, Algebra III, Probability and Statistics, Discrete Mathematics, Applied Mathematics III* |
|
Chemistry |
Chemistry Com |
|
Fine Arts Survey |
Speech Debate (2 units) |
|
Western Civilization |
European History |
|
*Applied Mathematics III was formerly referred to as Applied Geometry |
...
Chapter 8. TOPS-TECH Award
...
§803. Establishing Eligibility
A. - A.6.c.
...
d. Any courses that may be substituted for TOPS core curriculum course
requirements in §703.A.5.a.i. may be substituted for the comparable TOPS-TECH
core curriculum course requirements.
d. e. for purposes of satisfying the core curriculum
requirements for a TOPS-TECH award, a student may substitute for a core
curriculum course those courses listed as equivalent courses in §703.A.5.a.ii.
...
...
Chapter 21. Miscellaneous Provisions and Exceptions
...
§2103. Circumstances Warranting Exception to the Initial and Continuous
Enrollment Requirements
A. - D.3. ...
E. Qualifying
Exceptions to the Initial and Continuous Enrollment Requirement
A student who
has been declared ineligible for TOPS because of failure to meet the initial or
continuous enrollment requirements may request reinstatement in TOPS based on
one or more of the following exceptions:
1. - 10.c....
11. Exceptional Circumstances
a. Definition. The student/recipient has exceptional circumstances,
other than those listed in §2103.E.1-10, which are beyond his immediate control
and which necessitate full or partial withdrawal from, or non-enrollment in an
eligible postsecondary institution.
i. The following situations are not exceptional circumstances:
(a) - (h) ...
(i) For students graduating from high school in 2001 and thereafter, making
financial commitments or accepting an academic or athletic scholarship or grant
to attend a postsecondary institution outside of Louisiana.
E.11.a.ii.
- E.11.c. ...
...
*Words in struck through type are deletions from the
existing rules; words underscored are additions.