LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER: T2006-7
DATE ISSUED: December 27, 2006
EFFECTIVE DATE: As Indicated
DISTRIBUTION:

College, University and LAICU Chancellors, Financial Aid Offices, Business Offices, Registrars and Auditors; Louisiana Legislators, Officials and the Congressional Delegation; Higher Education Board; Libraries; High School Counselors; High School Principals; Commission Members; Technical College Campus Deans and Student Personnel Services Officers

TOPIC:

Additional Actions Being Implemented to Mitigate the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on Students

To assure that your Rules remain current, please record this document on your Bulletin index and retain it with your manual.

 

In October 2005, the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission (LASFAC) promulgated emergency rules to implement Acts 64 and 65 of the First Extraordinary Session of the 2005 Louisiana Legislature. These rules for the 2005-2006 academic year provided relief to students who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina or Rita by providing exceptions for initial and continuing eligibility requirements for Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Scholarships. LASFAC has included these emergency rules in this Notice of Intent to make them permanent.

LASFAC recognizes that some of the conditions that prompted the promulgation of the original emergency rules would still impact some displaced student who have returned and will graduate from Louisiana high schools in 2007. LASFAC, subject to the oversight of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, was empowered to waive by rule any requirement or condition that students cannot comply with or meet due to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina or Rita or both. Besides the incorporation of the above emergency rules that were applicable to displaced students for the 2005-2006 academic year, this Notice of Intent proposes several exceptions to assist displaced students who graduate during the 2006-2007 academic year from a Louisiana high school by:

The alternative Louisiana residency requirements proposed in the Notice of Intent are only applicable to displaced students graduating from an eligible Louisiana high school or completing a BESE approved home study program at the twelfth grade level during the 2006-2007 academic year (high school). These students meet the Louisiana residency requirement if they actually resided in Louisiana during their entire tenth grade year of high school while enrolled in an eligible Louisiana high school or their parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington Parish for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005 or Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Terrebonne, or Vermilion Parish for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005. The new provisions in the Notice of Intent are underlined.

It is anticipated that this Notice of Intent will become a final rule in March 2007. For additional information, please contact Melanie Amrhein, Assistant Executive Director at mamrhein@osfa.state.la.us or George Eldredge, General Counsel at geldredge@osfa.state.la.us .

NOTICE OF INTENT

Student Financial Assistance Commission
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Scholarship/Grant Programs
(LAC 28:IV.703, 705, 803, 805)


    The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission (LASFAC) announces its intention to amend its Scholarship/Grant rules to incorporate Acts 64 and 65 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005 concerning the TOPS initial and continuing eligibility requirements as they relate to students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in accordance with LSA-R.S. 17:3021-3025, LSA-R.S. 3041.10-3041.15, LSA-R.S. 17:3042.1, and LSA-R.S. 17:3048.1, and in accordance with the authority and procedures provided LSA-R.S. 17:3048.6.B(2)(a)(i), to provide waivers of certain TOPS initial eligibility requirements for students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who will graduate from high school or complete home study programs approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) during the 2006-2007 high school academic year.
    LASFAC has determined that initial eligibility requirements for a Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) award applicable for the 2005-2006 school year impose program requirements or conditions that displaced students who will graduate from high school or complete home study programs approved by the BESE during the 2006-2007 high school academic year cannot comply with or meet and that the failure of these displaced students to comply with the requirements or meet the conditions, more likely than not, is due solely to a consequence of Hurricane Katrina or Rita, or both.
    LASFAC has consulted with the Commissioner of Higher Education who has concurred with this proposed rulemaking.
    The result of promulgating this rulemaking will be to provide a waiver of specifically cited TOPS initial eligibility requirements for displaced students graduating from eligible Louisiana high schools or completing home study programs approved by the BESE during the 2006-2007 high school academic year.
The proposed rule has no known impact on family formation, stability, or autonomy, as described in LSA-R.S. 49:972. (SG0777NI)

Title 28
EDUCATION
Part IV. Student Financial Assistance- Higher
Education Scholarship and Grant Programs

Chapter 7. Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Opportunity, Performance, and Honors Awards
§703. Establishing Eligibility
A. - I(8) ...
J. Natural Disaster Initial Eligibility Requirements

1. To establish eligibility for a TOPS Opportunity, Performance or Honors Award, a displaced student graduating from high school or completing a BESE approved home study program at the twelfth grade level during the 2005-2006 academic year (high school) must meet all of the requirements of §703.A -I(8) above, except as follows:

a. A displaced student who has been certified by the principal or headmaster to have graduated during the 2005-2006 school year from an out-of-state high school that meets the criteria of an eligible out-of-state high school as provided in §1701.A.4 and 5 shall not be required to have for the respective awards a higher minimum composite score on the ACT or on the Scholastic Aptitude Test than required for a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school provided such student has, for an Opportunity Award, a cumulative high school grade point average on all courses on the high school transcript of at least 2.50 calculated on a 4.00 scale or, for a Performance or Honors award, a cumulative high school grade point average on all courses on the high school transcript of at least 3.50 calculated on a 4.00 scale.
b. The requirement that a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school during the 2005-2006 school year must have successfully completed the applicable core curriculum shall be waived for a displaced student based upon a sworn affidavit by the student's high school principal or headmaster or authorized designee that failure to comply with such requirement is due solely to the fact that the required course or courses were not available to the student at the school attended.
c. A displaced student shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if:

i. such dependent or independent student actually resided in Louisiana during his entire eleventh grade year of high school and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school; or
ii. such dependent student has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in a parish listed in §703.J.2.a below for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005, or in a parish listed in §703.J.2.b below for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

d. A dependent student who graduated from an eligible out-of-state high school shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if his parent or court-ordered custodian was displaced as a resident from a parish listed:

i. in §703.J.2.a below due to Hurricane Katrina and such parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Louisiana for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005; or
ii. in §703.J.2.b below due to Hurricane Rita and such parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Louisiana for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

e. A displaced student who during the 2005-2006 academic year (high school) successfully completes at the twelfth grade level a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall not be required to have also completed the eleventh grade level of an approved home study course.

2. For the purposes of this Subsection, displaced student means:

a.a student who on August 26, 2005, was actually residing in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington Parish and:

i. was enrolled in an eligible Louisiana high school as provided in §1701.A.1, 2 and 3; or
ii. was enrolled in a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; or

b. a student who on September 20, 2005, was actually residing in Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Terrebonne, or Vermilion Parish and:

i. was enrolled in an eligible Louisiana high school as provided in §1701.A.1, 2 and 3; or
ii. was enrolled in a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

3. To establish eligibility for a TOPS Opportunity, Performance or Honors Award, a displaced student graduating from an eligible Louisiana high school or completing a BESE approved home study program at the twelfth grade level during the 2006-2007 academic year (high school) must meet all of the requirements of §703.A -I(8) above, except as follows:

a. The requirement that a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school during the 2006-2007 academic year (high school) must have successfully completed the applicable core curriculum shall be waived for a displaced student based upon a sworn affidavit by the student's high school principal or headmaster or authorized designee that failure to comply with such requirement is due solely to the fact that the required course or courses were not available to the student at the school attended.
b. A displaced student shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if:

i. such dependent or independent student actually resided in Louisiana during his entire tenth grade year of high school and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school; or
ii. such dependent student has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in a parish listed in §703.J.2.a above for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005, or in a parish listed in §703.J.2.b above for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:3021-3025, R.S. 17:3042.1 and R.S. 17:3048.1.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Student Financial Assistance Commission, Office of Student Financial Assistance, LR 22:338 (May 1996), repromulgated LR 24:636 (April 1998), amended LR 24:1902 (October 1998), LR 24:2237 (December 1998), LR 25:257 (February 1999); LR 25:655 (April 1999), LR 25:1794 (October 1999), LR 26:64, 67 (January 2000), LR 26:689 (April 2000), LR 26:1262 (June 2000), LR 26:1602 (August 2000), LR 26:1996, 1999, 2001 (September 2000), LR 26:2268 (October 2000), LR 26:2753 (December 2000), LR 27:36 (January 2001), LR 27:702 (May 2001), LR 27:1219, 1219 (August 2001), repromulgated LR 27:1850 (November 2001), amended LR 28:772 (April 2002), LR 28:2330, 2332 (November 2002), LR 29:125 (February 2003), LR 29:2372 (November 2003), LR 30:1162 (June 2004), LR 30:1471 (July 2004), LR 30:2019 (September 2004), LR 31:37 (January 2005), LR 31:2213 (September 2005), LR 31:3112 (December 2005).

§705. Maintaining Eligibility
A. - D. ...
E. Natural Disaster Maintaining Eligibility Requirements

1.To continue receiving the TOPS Opportunity, Performance or Honors Awards, a displaced student must meet all of the criteria in §705.A. – D. above, except as follows:

a. The TOPS award of a displaced student who enrolls for the first-time as a full time student in an eligible out-of-state college or university during the 2005-2006 academic year (college) and subsequently enrolls at a Louisiana eligible college or university shall not be reduced due to enrollment in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 academic year (college).
b. The TOPS award of a displaced student who has been enrolled in a Louisiana eligible college or university and who subsequently enrolls as a full time student in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 academic year (college) shall not be cancelled due to such out-of-state enrollment.
c. The TOPS award of a displaced student who has been enrolled in a Louisiana eligible college or university and who subsequently enrolls as a full time student in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 academic year (college) shall not be reduced for those semesters or terms such displaced student was enrolled in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 academic year (college).
d. The period of suspension of a TOPS award for a displaced student due to the student not meeting a requirement to maintain a minimum grade point average or to make steady academic progress shall be extended on a one-for-one basis for each semester or term in which the student does not enroll on a full-time basis in an eligible college or university during the 2005-2006 academic year (college).

2. For the purposes of this Subsection, displaced student means:

a. a student who on August 26, 2005:

i. was enrolled in one of the following institutions:

(a) Delgado Community College;
(b) Dillard University;
(c) Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans;
(d) Louisiana Technical College: Jefferson, Sidney N. Collier, Slidell, Sullivan, and West Jefferson campuses;
(e) Loyola University;
(f) New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary;
(g) Nunez Community College;
(h) Our Lady of Holy Cross College;
(i) St. Joseph Seminary College;
(j) Southern University at New Orleans;
(k) Tulane University;
(l) University of New Orleans;
(m) Xavier University; or

ii. had a home of record in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington Parish; or

b. a student who on September 20, 2005:

i. was enrolled in one of the following institutions:

(a) McNeese State University;
(b) Sowela Technical Community College; or

ii. had a home of record in Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Terrebonne, or Vermilion Parish.

3. For the purposes of this Subsection, home of record for a dependent student shall mean the domiciliary address of the student's parent or court-ordered custodian and for an independent student shall mean the domiciliary address of such student.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:3021-3025, and R.S. 17:3048.1.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Student Financial Assistance Commission, Office of Student Financial Assistance, LR 22:338 (May 1996), repromulgated LR 24:637 (April 1998), amended LR 24:1904 (October 1998), LR 25:257 (February 1999), LR 25:656 (April 1999), LR 25:1091 (June 1999), LR 26:67 (January 2000), LR 26:688 (April 2000), LR 26:1996, 2001 (September 2000), repromulgated LR 27:1853 (November 2001), amended LR 28:447 (March 2002), LR 28:772 (April 2002), LR 28:2332 (November 2002), LR 29:2373 (November 2003), LR 30:781 (April 2004), LR 30:1163 (June 2004), LR 30:2019 (September 2004), LR 31:3115 (December 2005).

Chapter 8. TOPS-TECH Award
§803. Establishing Eligibility
A.1-10 …
B. Natural Disaster Initial Eligibility Requirements

1. To establish eligibility for a TOPS Tech Award, a displaced student graduating from high school or completing a BESE approved home study program at the twelfth grade level during the 2005-2006 academic year (high school) must meet all of the requirements of §803.A. above, except as follows:

a. A displaced student who has been certified by the principal or headmaster to have graduated during the 2005-2006 school year from an out-of-state high school that meets the criteria of an eligible out-of-state high school as provided in §1701.A.4 and 5 shall not be required to have a higher minimum composite score on the ACT or on the Scholastic Aptitude Test than required for a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school provided such student has a cumulative high school grade point average on all courses on the high school transcript of at least 2.50 calculated on a 4.00 scale.
b. The requirement that a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school during the 2005-2006 school year must have successfully completed the applicable core curriculum shall be waived for a displaced student based upon a sworn affidavit by the student's high school principal or headmaster or authorized designee that failure to comply with such requirement is due solely to the fact that the required course or courses were not available to the student at the school attended.
c. A displaced student shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if:

i. such dependent or independent student actually resided in Louisiana during his entire eleventh grade year of high school and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school; or
ii. such dependent student has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in a parish listed in §803.B.2.a below for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005, or in a parish listed in §803.B.2.b below for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

d. A dependent student who graduated from an eligible out-of-state high school shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if his parent or court-ordered custodian was displaced as a resident from a parish listed:

i. in §803.B.2.a below due to Hurricane Katrina and such parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Louisiana for at least the 12 months prior to
August 26, 2005; or
ii. in §803.B.2.b below due to Hurricane Rita and such parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Louisiana for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

e. displaced student who during the 2005-2006 academic year (high school) successfully completes at the twelfth grade level a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall not be required to have also completed the eleventh grade level of an approved home study course.

2. or the purposes of this Subsection, displaced student means:

a. student who on August 26, 2005, was actually residing in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington Parish and:

i. as enrolled in an eligible Louisiana high school as provided in §1701.A.1, 2 and 3; or
ii. as enrolled in a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; or

b. student who on September 20, 2005, was actually residing in Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Terrebonne, or Vermilion Parish and:

i. was enrolled in an eligible Louisiana high school as provided in §1701.A.1, 2 and 3; or
ii. as enrolled in a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

3. To establish eligibility for a TOPS Tech Award, a displaced student graduating from an eligible Louisiana high school or completing a BESE approved home study program at the twelfth grade level during the 2006-2007 academic year (high school) must meet all of the requirements of §803.A. above, except as follows:

a.The requirement that a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school during the 2006-2007 school year must have successfully completed the applicable core curriculum shall be waived for a displaced student based upon a sworn affidavit by the student's high school principal or headmaster or authorized designee that failure to comply with such requirement is due solely to the fact that the required course or courses were not available to the student at the school attended.
b. A displaced student shall be deemed to meet the Louisiana residency requirement if:

i. such dependent or independent student actually resided in Louisiana during his entire tenth grade year of high school and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school; or
ii. such dependent student has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in a parish listed in §803.B.2.a above for at least the 12 months prior to August 26, 2005, or in a parish listed in §803.B.2.b above for at least the 12 months prior to September 20, 2005.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:3021-3025, and R.S. 17:3048.1.
HISTORICAL NOTE:Promulgated by the Student Financial Assistance Commission, Office of Student Financial Assistance, LR 24:1904 (October 1998), amended LR 24:2237 (December 1998), LR 25:1795 (October 1999), LR 26:65, 67 (January 2000), LR 26:1602 (August 2000), LR 26:1997 (September 2000), LR 26:2269 (October 2000), LR 26:2754 (December 2000), LR 27:36 (January 2001), LR 27:1220 (August 2001), repromulgated LR 27:1854 (November 2001), amended LR 28:447 (March 2002), LR 28:773 (April 2002), LR 28:2330 (November 2002), LR 29:554 (April 2003), LR 30:1164 (June 2004), LR 30:2019 (September 2004), LR 31:39 (January 2005), LR 31:3114 (December 2005).

§805. Maintaining Eligibility
A. - C.
D. Natural Disaster Maintaining Eligibility Requirements

1. To continue receiving the TOPS Tech Award, a displaced student must meet all of the criteria in §805.A. – C. above, except as follows:

a. The TOPS Tech Award of a displaced student who has been enrolled in a Louisiana eligible college or university and who subsequently enrolls as a full time student in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 program year (non-academic program) shall not be cancelled due to such out-of-state enrollment.
b. The TOPS Tech Award of a displaced student who has been enrolled in a Louisiana eligible college or university and who subsequently enrolls as a full time student in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 program year (non-academic program) shall not be reduced for those semesters or terms such displaced student was enrolled in an eligible out-of-state institution during the 2005-2006 program year (non-academic program).
c. The period of suspension of a TOPS Tech Award for a displaced student due to the student not meeting a requirement to maintain a minimum grade point average or to make steady academic progress shall be extended on a one-for-one basis for each semester or other term in which the student does not enroll on a full-time basis in an eligible college or university during the 2005-2006 program year (non-academic program).
d. A TOPS Tech Award may be used by a displaced student during the 2005-2006 academic year (college) to enroll on a full-time basis in an academic program at a Louisiana eligible college or university to take courses that contribute to the pursuit of a skill or occupation. In such case, the award amount shall be at the same as the Opportunity Award for that institution.

2. For the purposes of this Subsection, displaced student means:

a. a student who on August 26, 2005:

i. was enrolled in one of the following institutions:

(a) Delgado Community College;
(b) Dillard University;
(c) Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans;
(d) Louisiana Technical College: Jefferson, Sidney N. Collier, Slidell, Sullivan, and West Jefferson campuses;
(e) Loyola University;
(f) New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary;
(g) Nunez Community College;
(h) Our Lady of Holy Cross College;
(i) St. Joseph Seminary College;
(j) Southern University at New Orleans;
(k) Tulane University;
(l) University of New Orleans;
(m) Xavier University; or

ii. had a home of record in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington Parish; or

b. a student who on September 20, 2005:

i. was enrolled in one of the following institutions:

(a) McNeese State University;
(b) Sowela Technical Community College; or

ii. had a home of record in Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Terrebonne, or Vermilion Parish.

3. For the purposes of this Subsection, home of record for a dependent student shall mean the domiciliary address of the student's parent or court-ordered custodian and for an independent student shall mean the domiciliary address of such student.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:3021-3025, and R.S. 17:3048.1.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Student Financial Assistance Commission, Office of Student Financial Assistance, LR 24:1905 (October 1998), amended LR 25:1091 (June 1999), LR 26:68 (January 2000), LR 26:689 (April 2000), LR 26:1997, 2002 (September 2000), repromulgated LR 27:1856 (November 2001), amended LR 28:774 (April 2002), LR 28:2332 (November 2002), LR 29:880 (June 2003), LR 29:2373 (November 2003), LR 30:781 (April 2004), LR 30:1165 (June 2004), LR 30:2019 (September 2004), LR 31:3115 (December 2005).

Interested persons may submit written comments on the proposed changes until 4:30 p.m., January 10, 2006, to Jack L. Guinn, Executive Director, Office of Student Financial Assistance, P.O. Box 91202, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-9202.

George Badge Eldredge
General Counsel