TOPS Award Continuation for Recipients Who Enter Professional Degree Programs Prior to Receiving a Baccalaureate Degree

LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER:
T2000-10
DATE ISSUED:
March 21, 2000
EFFECTIVE DATE:
As Indicated
DISTRIBUTION: Louisiana College and University, Technical College and LAICU Chancellors, Financial Aid Offices and Business Offices, System Governance, Board of Regents, Department of Education, Louisiana Officials, and Commission Members
TOPIC: TOPS Award Continuation for Recipients Who Enter Professional Degree Programs Prior to Receiving a Baccalaureate Degree

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.

Rules of the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission, (specifically, Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28, Part IV) have been revised to provide that TOPS recipients who achieve the credentials to be admitted to professional schools prior to receiving their bachelor’s degrees may be permitted to continue their full four-year TOPS awards, as follows:

"Chapter 3. Definitions

§301.         Definitions

...

                   Award Amount—an amount equal to Tuition at the school attended for those students attending a Louisiana public college or university, as determined by the commission, which may be used by the student to pay any educational expense included in that student’s "Cost of Attendance." For purposes of a TOPS award for a student enrolled in a Louisiana professional school, shall be equal to the tuition charged for a student while pursuing a baccalaureate degree at the highest cost public school or the Weighted Average Award Amount, depending upon whether the professional school is a public or private school.

...

                    Tuition—the fee charged each student by a postsecondary institution to cover the student’s share of the cost of instruction, including all other mandatory enrollment fees charged to all students, except for the Technology Fee authorized by Act 1450 of the 1997 Regular Session of the Legislature, which were in effect as of January 1, 1998, and any changes in the cost of instruction authorized by the legislature and implemented by the institution after that date. Tuition for purposes of a TOPS award for a student enrolled in professional school shall be equal to the tuition charged for a student while pursuing a baccalaureate degree at the highest cost public school or the Weighted Average Award Amount, depending upon whether the professional school is a public or private school.

                    Undergraduate Student—a student who has not completed the requirements for a baccalaureate degree program.

...

Schools may use the same procedures for billing and grade reporting as they currently do for undergraduate students. It is the school’s responsibility to ensure that professional school students for whom they bill TOPS have not obtained a baccalaureate degree.


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