LOUISIANA
STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
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| TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: | T2002-11 |
| DATE ISSUED: | June 3, 2002 |
| 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, Registrars and Auditors, System Governance, Board of Regents, Department of Education, Louisiana Officials, Louisiana Legislators, and Commission Members |
| TOPIC: |
Clarification of TOPS-Tech Core Curriculum Requirements |
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.
TOPS Bulletin T2001-23, dated December 21, 2001, provided numerous technical changes including revisions to section 803 Option 1 and Option 2 for the TOPS-Tech Core Curriculum. We have discovered that the website version of that bulletin had dropped "strike-out" formatting for language in "Option 2". The website version of the bulletin has now been corrected. Because there has been some confusion in certifying TOPS-Tech students under the new options, we wish to clarify the core curriculum requirements for TOPS-Tech in this bulletin. The full text of §803.A.6 follows.
The full compilation of the TOPS rules with all changes incorporated to date may be viewed on our web site at www.osfa.state.la.us.
Title 28
EDUCATION
Part IV. Student Financial Assistance
Higher
Education Scholarship and Grant Programs
…
Chapter 8. TOPS-TECH Award
…
§803. Establishing Eligibility
A. To establish eligibility for the TOPS-TECH Award, the student applicant must meet the following criteria:
1, - 5.d.iii. …
6. if qualifying under the terms of §803.A.5.a., at the time of high school graduation,:
a. have successfully completed one of the following core curriculums:
(i) 16.5 units of high school course work constituting the TOPS core curriculum as defined in §703.A.5. and documented on the student's official transcript as approved by the Louisiana Department of Education; or
(ii) For students graduating in the 2000-2001 school year and thereafter, the high school course work documented on the student's official transcript as approved by the Louisiana Department of Education constituting the following TOPS-TECH core curriculum:
Core Curriculum -TOPS-TECH Award:
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Units
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Course |
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1
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English I |
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1
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English II |
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1
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English III |
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1
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English IV or substitute one unit of Business English. |
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1
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Algebra I; or both Algebra I, Part 1 and Algebra I, Part 2; or both Applied Mathematics I and Applied Mathematics II. |
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2
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Geometry, Applied Mathematics III, Algebra II, Financial Mathematics, Advanced Mathematics I, Advanced Mathematics II, Discrete Mathematics, or Probability and Statistics (two units). Integrated Mathematics I, II, and III may be substituted for Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II, and shall be considered the equivalent of the three required math units. |
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1
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Biology. |
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1
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Chemistry or Applied Chemistry. |
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1
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Earth Science, Environmental Science, Physical Science, Integrated Science, Biology II, Chemistry II, Physics, Physics II, or Physics for Technology. |
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1
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American History. |
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1
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World History, Western Civilization, or World Geography. |
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1
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Civics and Free Enterprise (one unit combined) or Civics (one unit, nonpublic). |
REMAINING CORE COURSES SHALL BE SELECTED FROM ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:
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OPTION 1
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Total of 17 units |
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1
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Fine Arts Survey or substitute two units of performance courses in music, dance, or theater; or substitute two units of visual art courses; or substitute two units of studio art courses; or a course from the career and technical program of studies that is approved by the BESE (must be listed under the Vocational Education Course Offerings in Bulletin 741 or the updates to Bulletin 741); or substitute one unit as an elective from among the other subjects listed in this core curriculum |
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2
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Foreign Language, Technical Writing, Speech I or Speech II |
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1
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One unit from the secondary computer education program of studies that is approved by the BESE |
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OR
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OPTION
2
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Total of 19 Units |
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4
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In a career major comprised of a sequence of related specialty courses. In order for a student to use this option, the courses for the career major must be approved by the BESE. |
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1
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Credit in a basic computer course. |
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1
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In related or technical fields. A related course includes any course which is listed under the student's major. A technical course is one that is listed in the approved career option plan for the high school at which the course is taken. |
or
(iii) For students graduating through the 2001-2002 school year, the TOPS-TECH core curriculum as follows:
Core Curriculum-TOPS-TECH Award:
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Units
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Course |
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1
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English I |
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1
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English II |
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1
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English III |
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1
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English IV or Business English |
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1
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Algebra I (one unit) or Applied Algebra IA and 1B (two units) |
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1
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Algebra II |
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1
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Geometry or Applied Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus or comparable Advanced Mathematics |
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1
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Biology |
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1
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Chemistry or Applied Physics |
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1
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Earth Science, Environmental Science, Physical Science, Biology II, Chemistry II, Physics, Physics II or Physics for Technology |
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1
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American History |
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1
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World History, Western Civilization or World Geography |
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1
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Civics and Free Enterprise (one unit combined) or Civics (one unit, non-public) |
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1
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Fine Arts Survey or any approved vocational course in the areas of Agriscience, Business Education, Family and Consumer Science, Health Occupations, Marketing Education, Technology Education, or Trade and Industrial Education; (or substitute two units of performance courses in music, dance or theater; or two units of studio art or two units of visual art courses; or one elective from among the other subjects listed in this core curriculum) |
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2
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In a single Foreign Language. (one unit for students graduating from high school during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 school years.) or Technical Writing, Speech I or Speech II (two units). |
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1/2
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Computer Science, Computer Literacy or Business Computer Applications (or substitute at least one-half unit of an elective course related to computers that is approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; or substitute at least one-half unit of an elective from among the other subjects listed in this core curriculum) |
b. for students in graduating classes prior to 2004, core units may be waived upon sworn affidavit by the principal or headmaster or authorized designee that the course was not available to the student at the school attended;