gradscap.gif (2252 bytes)

Awards for Former Louisiana Honors Scholarship Recipients

LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER:
T98-7
DATE ISSUED:
November 23, 1998
EFFECTIVE DATE:
1998-99 Academic Year
DISTRIBUTION: Member Institutions of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (LAICU),  Board of Regents,  Department of Education, and Louisiana Officials
TOPIC: Awards for Former Recipients of the Louisiana Honors Scholarship

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.

Louisiana Revised Statutes Chapter 17 Section 3042.16, provides that students awarded the Louisiana Honors Scholarship (a forerunner program to TOPS, which awarded the top 5% of high school graduates) during the 1997-98 award year, who have maintained eligibility to continue in that program for the 1998-99 award year, shall be awarded the TOPS Performance Award.   The statute further provides that the student’s rollover into the TOPS shall be made without any limitations of TOPS that would detrimentally affect the student. In compliance with these provisions, for those students who are prior recipients of the Honors Scholarship Program and attending a member institution of LAICU, this Agency shall award that amount which is the higher of the two awards, that previously received under the Louisiana Honors Scholarship or that authorized by the TOPS Performance Award.

The amount of the Performance Award for a student attending a LAICU member institution is $1,092 per semester for tuition (which is the Weighted Average Tuition for students attending public colleges and universities determined from the prior year), plus a stipend of $200, for a total award per semester of $1,292.  The amount of the award formerly made to a student receiving a Louisiana Honors Scholarship for attendance at a LAICU member institution was $1,362 per semester (or the tuition charged at the highest cost public college or university).

In billing this agency for the amount to be awarded to a recipient of TOPS, institutions that are members of LAICU shall bill in the amount of $1,362 for each student in attendance who was formerly awarded a Louisiana Honors Scholarship and is currently authorized to receive the TOPS Performance Award. The $1,362 should be billed as tuition only, with no amount under the stipend column.  Billing an amount in the stipend column will result in a rejection due to an error on the transaction file.

Questions regarding the operational application of the provisions of this bulletin should be directed to Dr. John Bell, Program Manager, Scholarships and Grants Division, at (225) 922-1113 or locally in Baton Rouge at 922-1113.