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.

High school counselors are requested to advise students in their high school who are not U. S. citizens that there are special procedures that must be followed in order to qualify for a TOPS award. Students who are "eligible noncitizens" who will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship at the age of 18 must apply for citizenship no later than the 60th day following their 18^th birthday. The Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 28, Part IV, Sections 703, 803, and 903, state that in order to qualify for a TOPS award:

"... a student who is not a citizen of the United States but who is eligible to apply for such citizenship shall be deemed to satisfy the citizenship requirement, if within sixty (60) days after the date the student attains the age of majority, the student applies to become a citizen of the United States and obtains such citizenship within one year after the date of the application for citizenship. ..."

High school counselors are requested to remind students that are not U.S. citizens of this requirement. Those students who are not U.S. citizens, who are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and who otherwise meet the remaining requirements for a TOPS award, will receive the award as long as they have applied for citizenship within 60 days of their 18^th birthday. If the Office of Student Financial Assistance has not received proof of U. S. citizenship within 60 days of the student’s 19^th birthday, the TOPS award will be suspended until such time as the student can present proof of U. S. citizenship.