LOUISIANA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Bulletin
TOPS BULLETIN NUMBER:
T2000-23
DATE ISSUED:
September 12, 2000
EFFECTIVE DATE:
As Indicated
DISTRIBUTION: Louisiana High School Principals and Counselors, City and Parish School Board Presidents, School Board Superintendents, Department of Education, Louisiana Officials, Louisiana Legislators, and Commission Members
TOPIC: TOPS High School Certification

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.

Recent legislative changes in TOPS award eligibility include a provision that allows LOSFA to consider a late application for TOPS, filed after the July 1 final deadline (see TOPS Bulletins T2000-14, and T2000-15, dated April 14, 2000 and May 2, 2000, respectively).

High school graduates of May, 1999 and later may now file their initial FAFSA as application for TOPS between July 2 and August 30, 1999 with a penalty of loss of one semester of TOPS for late filing, and between August 31 and October 29, 1999 with a loss of two semesters of TOPS for late filing. Late filing of the application after these two windows results in ineligibility for the award.

Because of this change in the law, students will continue to be processed for initial eligibility at least through the end of the calendar year. Therefore, it is important that school personnel maintain diligence in checking the LOSFA website at http://www.osfa.state.la.us for graduates of their high school for whom TOPS certification is still needed. We recommend that high schools with electronic certification capability check the website at least once a week to certify these students for timely awards. For schools that still certify students in a manual mode, our office will generate one final paper certification in late November, once all eligible FAFSA records are received.

In addition, if a student’s name appears on your high school certification who did not graduate from your school, please notify our office.

If you have questions or information to report concerning TOPS certification, please direct them to us at 1-800-259-5626, ext. 1012, or by e-mail at custserv@osfa.state.la.us.

 

 

Information Center Menu Policy and Procedure Menu
LPM/LPB Index